
Elsll 



Glass. 



Book L-^ 



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WILLIAM V. IZLAR, ESQ. 
Sergeant Edisto Rifles 

Author of Sketch. Captured Town 
Creek, N. C, Feb. 10. 1865 



A SKETCH 

OF THE 

WAR RECORD OF THE EDISTO 
RIFLES, 1861-1865 

By WILLIAM VALMORE IZLAR 




Company "A," 1st Regiment S. C. V. Infantry 

Colonel Johnson Hagood 

Provisional Army of the Confederate States 

1861-1862 

Company "G," 25th Regiment S. C. V. Infantry 

Colonel Charles H. Simonton 

Confederate States Army 

1862-1865 



Published by AUGUST KOHN 



Columbia, S. C. 

The State Company 

1914 



^lo 



^ 



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z r/w I 



"Ye Stars, which though unseen, yet with me gaze 

Upon this loveliest fragment of the earth. 
Thou Sun, that kindlest all thy gentlest rays 
Above it, as to light a favorite hearth ! 
Ye Clouds, that in your temples of the west 

See nothing brighter than its humblest flowers ! 
And, you, ye Winds, that on the ocean's breast 
Are kissed to coolness ere you reach its bowers ! 
Bear witness with me in my song of praise, 

And tell the world that, since the world began, 
No fairer land has fired a poet's lays, 
Or given a home to man." 

Wm. Valmore Izlar. 



"I believe it is the duty of every Confederate whose 
opjDortiinities were such as to enable him to speak 
now, with anything like accuracy, to put on record 
what he knoAvs. He owes this duty not only to him- 
self and his associates, but to truth." 

Johnson Hagood. 



This historic sketch of the Edisto Rifles is dedi- 
cated to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 
knowing full well, that while there lives a true 
Southern woman, the altar fires will be kept con- 
tinuously burning bright in memory of the valiant 
deeds of the Confederate Soldiers. Yea, long, long 
after the last one has crossed over the river, of that 
matchless host who wore the gray, and followed the 
varying fortunes of the Starry Cross till it went 
down in stainless glory^oi> the plains of Appomattox, 
will the story of the] '^SJorm Cradled Nation that 
fell," and its heroic de'fenders, be ever kept fresh in 
the minds of future generations, by our glorious and 
patriotic women of the Southland. 



PREFACE 

In writing this sketch, it was my intention to avoid, 
as far as possible, all personal allusions, and confine 
myself to such facts and incidents as came under 
my own observation, and within my own knowledge, 
and at the same time give a clear and concise state- 
ment, without amplification or hyperbole. 

I find, however, in order that all important events 
and interesting incidents which go towards making a 
historic sketch, which I intend this to be, of the 
Edisto Rifles, be clearly set forth, personal reference 
cannot be avoided. 

I hope, therefore, I may be pardoned for what may 
appear as being a little egotistic, although literally 
true. 

The Author. 

May 13, 1908. 

Since writing the above General Hagood's 
Memoirs have been published, and it is with much 
pride that I find his narrative of events and mine so 
closely agreeing. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



William V. Izlar (facing title page) 

Col. Thos. Glover (facing p. 9) 

Jas. F. Izlar and Jno. Y. Glover (facing p. 17) 

Lt. Geo. Elliott (facing p. 25) 

Samuel Dibble (facing p. 33) 

T. A. Elliott (facing p. 41) 

Sergeant Wm. V. Izlar (facing p. 49) 

Sergeant L. Hayne Culler (facing p. 56) 

J. Hilliard Hook (facing p. 65) 

Sergeant Benj. P. Izlar (facing p. 73) 

Corporal Theodore Kohn (facing p. 81) 

Theodore Kohn (facing p. 89) 

Theodore Kohn (facing p. 97) 

David Dantzler (facing p. 105) 

Lewis W. Jenkins (facing p. 113) 

Eiber F. W. Doscher (facing p. 129) 

Monument to Hagood's Brigade (facing p. 143) 

Monument to Hagood's Brigade (facing p. 144) 



INTRODUCTION 

This little work lacks one inestimable advant- 
age, — final reAdsion by its author. Before the manu- 
script had been given to the printer the accomplished 
gentleman, ardent Carolinian and brave soldier had 
passed "the Great Captain for final review," and 
had been welcomed, as we believe, "on the other 
side" by Hagood and the Glovers, and O. M. Dantz- 
ler, and Keitt, and Dibbles, and Sellers, and 
Maloney, and Kennerly, and James F. Izlar, and 
Theodore Kohn, and other officers and comrades 
whose deeds he had so enthusiastically recorded. 
Mr. W. V. Izlar died at a hospital in Atlanta. 

Before his unexpected death the author knew that 
his work would be put into enduring form, thanks 
to the munificence and filial devotion of Mr. August 
Kohn, of Columbia, whose father had been a gal- 
lant soldier of the Edisto Eifles during the entire 
War for Southern Independence. 

The proofs have been read and occasional notes 
and corrections made by Mr. A. S. Salley, Jr., the 
accomplished Secretary of the South Carolina His- 
torical Commission, than whom none has a more 
accurate knowledge of the history of the State, and 
who knows Orangeburg District as thoroughly as 
Gilbert White knew "The Natural History and 
Antiquities of Selborne." 

In his preface the author pleads that "personal 
reference could not be avoided" and apparently 



10 Edisto Rifles. 

fears that what he has written may appear "a little 
egotistic." The reader will put down the book with 
the sense that the personal element has lent it an 
additional charm; he tells what he has seen and 
heard, and of which he has been a part, with a 
directness and evident sincerity that carry convic- 
tion. He does not hesitate to criticise Gen. Patton 
Anderson's inexplicable failure to co-operate with 
Hoke and Hagood at the City Point Road, thus 
rendering abortive a blow which would probably 
have raised the siege of Petersburg; or General 
Mahone's peremptory order to Hagood, based upon 
mistaken reports of scouts, which resulted in the 
useless slaughter at Weldon Railroad; or General 
Bragg 's and General Whiting's blunders at Fort 
Fisher, and yet, he is not dogmatic ; he tells you that 
a sergeant in the rear rank cannot fitly judge the 
movements of great bodies of troops, that sometimes 
"he cannot see the forest for the trees." 

In Mr. Izlar's opinion the duty of the Edisto 
Rifles at Battery Wagner "was the most fearful 
experience of the four years of the war; especially 
the last three days and nights. No water, no sleep, 
very little to eat ; and all the while fifteen-inch shells 
were being hurled in broadsides against the fort and 
the silent and suffering, but faithful garrison, by the 
powerful armament of the enemy's fleet. * * * The 
mangled dead lay thick on every side, and their fast 
decaying remains under a hot September sun im- 
pregnated the atmosphere with a sickening, noisome 
odor. * * * All of this, added to the groans of the 
dying and shrieks of the wounded, was enough to 



Edisto Rifles. 11 

cause the stoutest heart to shudder and blanch the 
cheeks of the bravest of the brave." 

But, the engagement which seems to appeal most 
strongly to Mr. Izlar was the bloody battle of Wel- 
don Railroad. He held that "this charge of Hagood's 
Brigade does not suffer by the comparison" with 
the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava. He 
submits a table of figures as to both commands, of 
which the following is a recapitulation : 

Engaged. Loss. 

Light Brigade 607 406 =201 

Hagood's Brigade 740 448 =292 

It will be noted that Lord Cardigan lost about 66 
per cent., while Hagoocl lost 61 per cent. 

The author does not conceal his supreme con- 
tempt for Generals Sherman and B. F. Butler and 
for Admiral Porter, but, for General Cox, "a gentle- 
man as well as a soldier," and for many of the rank 
and file he had great respect. "It is quite a mis- 
taken idea," he says, "that the Yankees were poor 
soldiers and easily whipped. Any Confederate sol- 
dier who met them often in battle will testify that 
they were hard and tenacious fighters, especially 
those from the great Northwest !" 

After capture he was imprisoned at Point Look- 
out, with his brother Laurie T. Izlar, as a tentmate. 
He appears to have made friends with several of the 
enemy there, and by a clever ruse de guerre out- 
witted the commandant of the prison. General 
Brady, and obtained a fine suit of clothing and other 



12 Edisto Rifles. 

necessary articles, from his "uncle," a Southern 
sympathizer in New York ! 

In the rolls of the Edisto Rifles, and of the other 
companies from Orangeburg District, records 
which will be valued more and more every year, Mr. 
Izlar has perpetuated in two paragraphs; "Csesar," 
"Anthony," "Sam," "Cudjo," "Pierce," "Peter," 
"Sephas," "Derril," "Wash," "Toney," "Isaac" and 
"Jim," the names of twelve body-servants of as 
many gentlemen. "Many of the young members of 
the Edisto Rifles," he says, "took with them to the 
army their negro servants, who not only waited on 
their young masters faithfully, but cooked their 
meals also. When in Virginia, these servants stayed 
in the rear with the wagon train, but would bring 
meals to the front every day. * * * These servants 
were regularly rationed by the government the same 
as enlisted men." This detail is interesting, and, so 
far as I know, unique among the South Carolina 
company and regimental histories. "Bull Run" 
Russell, correspondent of the London Times, writing 
from Charleston, after the bombardment of Fort 
Sumter by the Confederate and State authorities, 
makes mention of the many negro body-servants 
who had accompanied their masters to Charleston; 
and Russell, or some other correspondent, reported 
that their function was not only to wait on their 
masters, but to do any disagreeable work, such as 
digging trenches, throwing up breast-works, etc. 
Of course, such roseate ideas of soldier life were 
soon dispelled. It would be interesting if Mr. Izlar 
had told how long those Edisto Riflemen found it 



Edisto Rifles. 13 

possible to retain their body-servants; certainly not 
in the trenches around Petersburg. 

Other features of Mr. Izlar's little book merit 
special attention ; but, the reader must look for them 
himself. 

Possibly the incentive for this work was the 
advice of his friend and Brigade Commander, Gen- 
eral Hagood, who said : "It is the duty of every Con- 
federate whose opportunities were such as to enable 
him to speak now, with anything like accuracy, to 
put on record what he knows." 

This is not the first, though it is among the best 
publications of its kind. There have been published 
numberless pamphlets and newspaper sketches or 
"histories" of various companies, among which may 
be mentioned : 

Major J. L. Coker's, Hartsville Light Infantry, 
Co. G, 9th S. C. Regiment; afterward Co. E, 6th 
S. C. Regiment. 

Darlington Rifles, Co. I, 18th S. C. Regiment. 

Company B, 21st S. C. Regiment, by Henry K. 
DuBose. 

Company B, 4th S. C. Palmetto Riflemen (Sharp- 
shooters), by Col. James A. Hoyt. Col. Hoyt's ad- 
mirable monograph has been elaborated and largely 
included in a book by the late Major W. L. Dunlop, 
of Arkansas, entitled "Lee's Sharpshooters, or the 
Forefront of Battle." 

Company K, 14th S. C Regiment, written and 
published by Augustus D. Tompkins, now of Char- 
lotte, N. C. 



14 Edisto Rifles. 

Historical Sketch of the Pee-Dee Light Artillery, 
Army Northern Virginia. By Orderly Sergeant 
J. W. Brunson. Together with a roll of Mcintosh's 
Battery Artillery. 

Charleston Light Dragoons, by Edward L. Wells, 
the biographer of Hampton. This is by far the 
most brilliant and complete history of a company 
yet published in South Carolina. 

There have been published a number of Regi- 
mental histories, in j)amphlet form, more or less com- 
plete, including: 

Seventeenth Regiment (Col. McMaster), by Capt. 
W. H. Edwards. 

Tenth S. C. Regiment, by Col. C. Irvine Walker, 
its last commander. 

First Regiment (Regulars) Artillery, Capt. 
Charles Inglesby. 

South Carolina's Brigade histories include (the 
earliest) J. F. J. Caldwell's "History of McGowan's 
Brigade." 

Hagood's Brigade, "Memoirs of the War of 
Secession." 

This list does not purport to be complete, but, 
unfortunately, very few additions can be made to it. 

Any one familiar with old-book catalogues, and 
more especially those who have visited the great 
libraries in Boston, New York and Chicago, can tell 
of the thousands of Company and Regimental his- 
tories which have been published in the North and 
West. 

Two instances will suffice to make the issue clear. 

Two Negro Regiments, both of them mainly re- 



Edisto Rifles. 15 

cruited in Massachusetts, the 54th and 55th Massa- 
chusetts, served most of their time in South Caro- 
lina. A fine, elegantly printed volume of 410 pages, 
Capt. Luis F. Emilio's History of the 54th Massa- 
chusetts, "A Brave Black Regiment," has had two 
editions ! ! ! 

"The Diary of One of the Officers of the 55th 
Massachusetts," has been printed, for private circu- 
lation, years ago. Prof. Burt G. Wilder, emeritus 
professor of Cornell University, some time surgeon 
of the 55th Regiment, has been preparing an exhaus- 
tive history of that organization for years and it will 
soon be ready for the press ! 

In the Booh of Mormon we read : 

"Now, there were many records kept of the pro- 
ceedings of this people, * * * but behold a hundreth 
part of the proceedings of this people; yes, the 
account of the Lamanites and Nephites and their 
wars and contentions * * * cannot be contained in 
this work. But, behold, there are many books and 
many records of every kind, and they have been 
chiefly kept hy the Nephites ^ 

This provokes the following apposite comment 
from an eminent Unitarian scholar and clergyman : 
'-'•There you have the real difficulty in writing a his- 
tory of the Lamanites. There may be plenty of 
material, but so long as it was collected by the 
Nephites it is impossible to get the Lamanitist point 
of view." Y. S. 

Columbia, S. C, August 1, 1914. 



/ ^ 




JAMES F. IZLAR 

Adjutant 14th Regiment S. C. 
Militia. C a p t a i n Edisto 
Rifles, 1862. Captured Fort 
Fisher, N. C, Jan. 15, 1865 



JOHN V. GLOVER 

Major 14th Regiment S. C. 
Militia. C a pt a i n Edisto 
Rifles 1861. Major 25th 
Regiment 1862. Died June 
19, 1864, of wounds received 
at Cold Harbor 



EDISTO RIFLES, 1861-18&5 

About the year 1851 a military company was 
formed in the town of Orangeburg, South Carolina, 
known as the Edisto Rifles. The first captain of this 
company was John J. Salley. Upon his resignation, 
John Vinyard Glover succeeded him. Captain 
Glover later being elected major of the Fourteenth 
Regiment of South Carolina Militia, to which the 
Edisto Rifles was attached, Wm. L. Ehney was his 
successor as captain of the company, and held this 
position till the State seceded from the Union. 

At the breaking out of the war this was one of the 
first companies in the State to volunteer its services 
to Governor Pickens,* and on reorganization for 
active duty on January 22nd, 1861, the following 
officers were elected: Thomas J. Glover, captain; 
John V. Glover, first lieutenant; John H. Felder, 
second lieutenant; James F. Izlar, third lieutenant. 

The uniform adopted was gray coat and trousers 
trimmed with black, and a gray cap. Each man 
paid for his own uniform. The company made a 
very handsome appearance when fully equipped and 
formed in line. 

The uniform of the company when in the militia 
service prior to 1861 was a gray coat trimmed with 
green, white trousers, and a black hat. 



♦The company was accepted by the Governor and remained in 
State service till the 22nd day of August following. 

2— E. R. 



18 Edisto Rifles. 

A short time after the company was organized the 
First Regiment of South Carolina Vohmteer 
Infantry was formed and Captain Thomas J. Glover 
was elected its lieutenant-colonel, which caused the 
captaincy of the Edisto Rifles to become vacant, and 
First Lieutenant John V. Glover was promoted to 
that office, and the second and third lieutenants like- 
wise going up a grade in rank, left the third lieuten- 
ancy vacant. An election being held, Samuel N. 
Kennerly was chosen for this position.* 

The officers of the First Regiment of South Caro- 
lina Volunteer Infantry were Johnson Hagood of 
Barnwell, colonel ; Thomas J. Glover of Orangeburg, 
lieutenant-colonel; Watson A. O'Cain of Orange- 
burg, major; Pat. K. Molony, adjutant; G. B. Lar- 
tigue, quartermaster; Wm. W. Legare, commissary 
of subsistence; Martin Bellinger, surgeon; A. B. 
Stephens, chaplain, and R. B. Wilson, sergeant 
major. 

Four companies of this regiment were from 
Orangeburg and commanded by these respective cap- 
tains: Company A, Edisto Rifles, John V. Glover; 
Company B, Daniel Livingston; Company C, 
Samuel M. Kemmerlin; Company D, J. D. Collier. 



*To give some idea of the material of which the Edisto Rifles 
was composed at the commencement of the war, I would say that 
the captain was a second honor graduate of South Carolina College ; 
the first lieutenant a South Carolina College graduate : the second 
lieutenant was a graduate of Yale ; the third lieutenant a first 
honor graduate of Emory College. The orderly sergeant was a first 
honor man of Woflford, and most of the non-commissioned officers 
and many of the privates were college graduates. 



Edisto Rifles. 19 

Five companies were from Barnwell, viz.: Com- 
pany E, T. H. Mangum, captain; Company F, Win- 
chester Graham, captain; Company G, Edward J. 
Frederick, captain; Company H, Vincent Martin, 
captain; Company I, James White, captain; Com- 
pany K, J. J. Brown, captain. Company I, James 
White, captain, was from Colleton. 

The four companies from Orangeburg, under com- 
mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas J. Glover, left 
there on the 11th day of April, 1861. The other six 
com^panies, under command of Major O'Cain, left 
Barnwell on the same day and all reached Charleston 
that afternoon and were joined there by Colonel 
Johnson Hagood. 

There was a large crowd at the Orangeburg station 
to see the troops off, and amidst prolonged cheers, 
waving of handkerchiefs and firing of cannon, the 
train pulled out. Some of the enthusiastic citizens 
had taken one of the old cannon which had lain rust- 
ing about the streets since the days they had been 
used by Captain Henry Felder in the Revolutionary 
War, out to the station and fired a parting salute. 
This gun Avas not mounted, but was fired as it lay 
on the ground, the muzzle being elevated somewhat 
by having a block of wood placed underneath it. 

There were four young men from the State of 
Connecticut engaged in mercantile business in 
Orangeburg in 1861. Lee W. Hitchcock, W. A. 
Church, George H. Curtiss and John C. Pike ; they 
all promptly joined the Edisto Rifles and were in 
service for the whole war. They all made good 



20 Edisto Kifles. 

soldiers. Two of them are still living in South 
Carolina and numbered among our best citizens. 

The trains transporting the troops were stopped 
on reaching the suburbs of Charleston, and as soon 
as all the soldiers were gotten off the regiment was 
formed and marched to the Eace Course, where it 
encamped for the night. At 4:30 o'clock the next 
morning, April 12th, the men were suddenly aroused 
by the boom of the first gun fired on Fort Sumter, 
and what proved to be four years of bloody inter- 
necine war had actually commenced. 

This gun was fired from Fort Johnson, on James 
Island, by Captain James.* Had he been possessed 
of prophetic vision and peered a few years into the 
future and seen the thousands sacrificed in the 
gigantic national struggle consequent upon the dis- 
charge of this gun, he no doubt would have paused, 
like Julius Csesar upon the bank of the Rubicon, ere 
he could have nerved himself to the point of pulling 
the lanyard taut on this momentous occasion. How- 
ever, war was inevitable sooner or later, and all 
attempts to extenuate the matter appeared futile. 

I have heard it said of late years, that Captain 
James before taking the lanyard from the man who 
was in position at the gun to do the firing said to 
him, "That the man firing the first gun would per- 



•Some time after this incident Captain James raised a battalion 
and was elected lieutenant-colonel. This battalion was assigned to 
the Fifteenth Regiment, S. C. V. Infantry. He was killed, in battle 
at South Mountain, Maryland, in September, 1862. After graduating 
at South Carolina College, he held a commission in the United 
States regular army. At the breaking out of the war, he resigned 
and entered Confederate service. 



Edisto Rifles. 21 

haps some day be held accountable for the act by the 
United States government, and therefore he would 
assume the responsibility." It is my opinion, how- 
ever, that Captain James wanted the distinction of 
firing the first gun, and just simply did it without 
making any apology or explanation whatever to his 
gun-squad. He was in command of the battery and 
had the authority to do as he saw fit in a matter of 
that kind.^ 

From the Eace Course the regiment was next 
morning marched through the city to one of the 
wharfs and embarked on the steamer DeKalh for 
James' Island; disembarking at Dill's Bluff and 
marching across the island to Legare's Point, from 
which place it was taken by boat to Morris' Island 
and encamped near the place where Battery Wagener 
was subsequently located. From here was witnessed 
the bloodless bombardment and surrender of F'ort 
Sumter by Major Anderson to General Beauregard. 
The regiment remained on Morris' Island after the 
fall of the fort, and was then ordered to Orangeburg, 
reaching there on the morning of May 23rd, and went, 
into camp in an old field about a mile east of the 
Orangeburg Female College. On the 31st of May 
the regiment was formed and marched to the college 
campus and there presented with a regimental flag 
donated by the ladies of Barnwell, Hon. John J. 



iNote by A. S. Salley, Jr.: Captain James did not pull the lan- 
yard. That was done by Henry S. Farley, 1st Lieutenant of the 
battery commanded by James. See an exhaustive presentation of 
this matter by Dr. Robert Lebby in The S.outh Carolina Historical 
and Genalogical Magazine for July, 1911. 



22 Edisto Eifles. 

Maher making the presentation address. On the 
march from the camp to the college I had my first 
real experience of what it meant to be under military- 
law and the duty of a sure enough soldier. Of course 
every one was anxious for the regiment to make a 
fine appearance; especially, as all the college girls 
would be out en masse to witness the ceremonies, and 
all the boys had arrayed themselves in all the fine 
linen to be found in a soldier's wardrobe for the 
occasion. Everything went lovely till we came to 
Cow-Castle branch, which was about two feet deep 
in water. Here Colonel Hagood had placed guards 
on the foot ways and required every man to march 
through the water. The officers, of course, fared no 
better than the men — all took the same medicine. 
This little incident was of great value to me in my 
subsequent army life, teaching me that to obey all 
orders was the first duty of a good soldier, and ask 
no questions. 

The design of the flag presented was what is 
known as the "Stars and Bars" which was adopted 
by the Provisional Congress at Montgomery as a 
suitable flag for the Confederate States on the 4th 
day of March, 1861, and described as follows: "The 
Flag of the Confederate States of America shall con- 
sist of a red field with a white space extending hori- 
zontally through the center, and equal in width to 
one-third of the flag. The red space above and 
below to be the same width as the white. The union 
blue, extending down through the white space and 
stopping at the lower red space. In the center of the 
union a circle of white stars corresponding in num- 



Edisto Rifles. 23 

ber with the States in the Confederacy. The union 
square; the stars five pointed. The length of the 
flag one and half times its width." 

The Edisto Rifles, before leaving Orangeburg for 
Charleston to join in the attack on Fort Sumter, had 
been presented with a company flag by Miss Adella 
Felder, a sister of First Lieutenant John H. Felder 
of the company, the presentation ceremonies taking 
place in front of the court house. The material of 
this flag was blue bunting and it was trimmed with 
silver cord and tassels, and silver fringe. On one 
side was a white silk palmetto tree and white silk 
crescent. On the reverse was "Edisto Rifles" in 
white silk letters. Beneath the palmetto tree was a 
white silk scroll on which was the latin motto, ''In 
hoc signo vinces'^ in black letters. The staff was 
ornamented with a silver star at the top. The flag 
was delivered to Wm. W. Legare, who was then color 
bearer of the company. B. W. Izlar, John C. Pike, 
and L. Ha,yne Culler were the color guard. This flag 
was used on all occasions by the company till it was 
found that so many flags caused confusion in time 
of battle, when all company flags were laid aside, 
and only the regimental battle flag used ; a regiment 
having only one flag, consequently this company flag 
was placed in a warehouse in Charleston for safety 
and has never been recovered. A little incident con- 
nected with this flag was brought to my attention a 
short time ago by the Honorable Samuel Dibble, at 
that time a lieutenant in the Edisto Rifles, who says : 
"When the regiment left or evacuated Cole's Island 
the flag in some unaccountable way was left behind. 



24 Edisto Rifles. 

The discovery was not made till after the regiment 
had gone a considerable distance; Wm. V. Izlar 
returned to the island, recovered the flag and brought 
it again to the company." 

The first flag of the Young Republic was the 
Bonny Blue Flag, and was saluted by the convention 
that adopted the Ordinance of Secession of Mis- 
sissippi. It is described by the Hon. Dunbar Row- 
land, director of the department of archives and his- 
tory of the State of Mississippi, as follows: "A flag 
of white ground, a magnolia tree in the center; a 
blue field in the upper left-hand corner, with a white 
star in the center, finished with a red border and red 
fringe at the extremity of the flag." 

Harry McCarthey, the Irish comedian, wrote the 
song, "Bonnie Blue Flag," the night of its unfurling 
in the convention, and sang it for the first time in the 
Spengler theatre in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 
the 10th, 1861. I think it is well to have correct his- 
tory and description of these flags as well as all other 
things incident to, or connected with the war. 

A short time before the first battle of Manassas, 
and while the regiment was still encamped at 
Orangeburg, the regiment was temporarily relieved 
from duty, subject to orders. Colonel Hagood, Lieu- 
tenant John H. Felder, Sergeant Samuel Dibble, 
Donald J. Rowe, Theodore Kohn, Edmund J. Felder, 
Wm. C. Meredith and Paul Jaudon, the seven last 
named being members of the Edisto Rifles, at once 
went to Virginia and joined companies stationed at 
Fairfax Court House, where the army under Gen- 
eral Beauregard was at that time facing the Federal 






LIEUT. GEORGE H. ELLIOTT 
Edisto Rifles 

Killed Drewry's Bluff, May 16, 1864 



Edisto Rifles. 25 

army commanded by General Irvin McDowell. Both 
Colonel Hagood and Lieutenant Felder shouldered 
muskets and fought through the battle as privates, 
along with the other members of the Edisto Rifles. 
The battle of Manassas was fought on the 21st day of 
July, 1861. The Federal army numbered 35,000 
men and 49 cannon, with all of the best appliances 
and equipments for war known at that time. In 
addition, McDowell had about 2,500 men near enough 
to him to have been easily thrown into the fight at 
short notice. 

The Confederate army under General Beauregard 
numbered between twenty-five and thirty thousand, 
with 55 cannon. A great many of General Beaure- 
gard's troops were without arms of any kind, while 
the great majority w^ere armed with guns of a very 
inferior make and the poorest kind of other equip- 
ments. The attack was made by the Federal com- 
mander, and for a considerable portion of the day 
the issue was doubtful, but upon the arrival of Gen- 
eral Joseph E. Johnston on the field with reinforce- 
ments for the Confederates, the tide of battle turned 
in favor of the Southern army and ended in a com- 
plete rout of the Federal forces. Not more than 
15,000 of the Confederates were actually engaged, 
while McDowell brought about his whole strength 
into action. 

The panic among the Yankee troops was so great 
that they could not be rallied or halted in their dis- 
graceful headlong flight till they reached Washing- 
ton city, and placed the Potomac River between 
them and the victorious army of General Beaure- 



26 Edisto Rifles. 

gard. The officers appeared to be as much demor- 
alized as the men, and it was a wild race and scram- 
ble to see who could reach and cross the Potomac 
River first. Guns, knapsacks, blankets, cartridge 
boxes, accoutrements of all kinds, as it were, macad- 
amized the turnpike for ten miles. 

Many politicians, and even women, had come down 
from Washington to see the battle and be present at 
the chastisement and discomfiture of the Southern 
troops. They had made great preparations to cele- 
brate the event in grand and hilarious fashion with 
feasting and dancing; these also joined in the 
stampede at a John Gilpin pace, regardless of sex or 
manner of getting away. The Bard of Avon tells us : 
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at 
the flood leads on to fortune." 

It seems to me, that surely the high tide was at 
hand for the Confederate Army, and the road was 
open which led to fortune on that day. With a 
vigorous pursuit of the demoralized and thoroughly 
disorganized Federal army, Washington would 
surely have fallen into the hands of General Beaure- 
gard; at least it would seem so to one who was not 
posted in regard to the secrets of the high officials of 
the army. The following is from The Charleston 
Courier of August the 14th, 1861, under the head 
of "News from Washington" : 

"The wonder of military men is that the Con- 
federates did not enter Washington. No doubt all 
their movements were matters of deliberation. The 
condition of things on Monday and Wednesday fol- 
lowing the battle, it is impossible to describe — the 



Edisto Rifles. 27 

streets were filled with soldiers openly proclaiming 
the cowardice and treason of their commanders — and 
at any time if the cry of 'Davis' had been heard at 
one end of the avenue the whole mass would have 
fled at the other. Such was the demoralization, that 
experienced English officers say the pages of history 
afford no parallel." 

On whom to place the blame, if any one w^as to 
blame, for the failure to grasp this golden oppor- 
tunity, I would not presume to say. On the 15th 
of July six members of the Edisto Rifles, viz.: 
John P. Frederick, Ben. P. Izlar, A. Govan Rowe, 
Wm. V. Izlar, Jude Robinson and Murray Robin- 
son, left Orangeburg for Virginia with the intention 
of attaching themselves to some company there and 
taking part in the impending battle. On reaching 
Fairfax Court House, where General Beauregard's 
army then was, we applied to several companies 
without meeting with any success ; and very little, if 
any, encouragement; all of the companies reported 
that they already had the maximum number allowed 
by the military law. We, however, had this very 
gracious and seductive proposition made to us by 
way of compromise, you might say : i. e., we could go 
along and fight with the command, provided we 
furnished ourselves with arms, ammunition, rations, 
tents, and transportation; but in case of being cap- 
tured, we would have to take the risk of being treated 
as bushwhackers by the enemy. This proposition 
did not api^eal quite strong enough to our patriotism 
and less to our common sense. Neither did our 
pocketbooks hold out any flattering inducements ; so 



28 Edisto Kifles. 

we declined with thanks. Greatly disappointed at 
the result, after staying there a few days, we shoul- 
dered our rifles, which we had taken with us from 
South Carolina, and started on our return trip for 
home. This incident will give an idea of how very 
little was known of what war really meant in 1861 
by the South. A few years later, when wisdom was 
gained by dear experience, recruits were considered 
even more valuable than rations. 

When Ave reached Wilmington, North Carolina, 
on our return trip, we met Vice-President Alex- 
ander H. Stephens. It was the first time I had ever 
seen him. To a casual observer he would appear as 
a little insignificant individual, but upon a close 
study of his face, one could not fail to be impressed 
with his masterful features. He had the finest eyes 
I ever saw. We learned here, also, that the great 
battle at Manassas had commenced. 

The North soon recovered from this first over- 
whelming defeat, and energetically went to work to 
place a much larger army in the field. 

When we reached home, we found that the First 
Regiment (Hagood's) had been again ordered out, 
and had rendezvoused at Summerville on the 20th, 
and we joined our company there. The regiment 
was here mustered into Confederate service on the 
22nd day of August, 1861.* 



*In the Provisional Army of the Confederate States for one year ; 
under an Act passed by the Confederate States Congress on the 
28th day of February, 1861, the regiment having volunteered for 
this service. 

See Appendix. 



Edisto Rifles. 29 

While at Summerville Lieutenant John H. Felder, 
of the Edisto Rifles, died at his plantation, "Mid- 
way," about five miles south of Orangeburg, of 
typhoid fever, contracted in the Virginia campaign, 
and was buried at the family burying ground with 
military honors. A detachment from the Edisto 
Rifles, under command of Lieutenant James F. Izlar, 
came up from Summerville and acted as military 
escort and fired a volley over his grave, when laid 
to rest in the grounds of his ancestors on the 17th 
day of August, 1861. 

Lieutenant Felder was a genial, courtly gentleman, 
and was greatly liked by the whole company. He 
was a graduate of Yale College. Orderly Sergeant 
Samuel Dibble was elected, while the regiment was 
still at Summerville, to the office of third lieutenant, 
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Lieutenant 
Felder, and the promotion of the other two lieuten- 
ants one grade. Second Sergeant George H. Elliott 
became orderly sergeant of the company. 

The latter part of August, the regiment was 
ordered to Cole's Island to guard the mouth of Stono 
River, one of the water approaches to the city of 
Charleston. The regiment went to Charleston by 
rail, and took a steamer for its destination via 
Wappoo Cut and Stono River, landing at the 
extreme eastern point of the island at the mouth of 
Folly River and opposite Folly Island, and marched 
a short distance beyond Fort Palmetto and prepared 
to pitch camp. The place selected for our camp was 
thickly overgrown by bushes about as tall as one's 



30 Edisto Rifles. 

head, and it required considerable hard work to get 
it in suitable condition to pitch tents. 

Fort Palmetto was an old earthwork, supposed to 
have been built originally by the Spaniards.^ In 1861 
it was in good preservation and required very little 
work to put it in good condition for defense. It may, 
however, have been built by the French under 
Ribault about the year 1562. There is now standing 
near Port Royal a fort built by him in that year 
which he called Carolina, in honor of Charles the IX 
of France.^ 

Cole's Island was garrisoned by a battalion of 
regular artillery commanded by Major J. J. Lucas; 
finding this force insufficient to man all the batteries, 
the Edisto Rifles were drilled as artillerists and 
placed in charge of a battery on Goat Island. This 
was a small island separated from Cole's Island by 
an insignificant little creek. On an occasion of 
target practice, one of the guns in the battery burst, 
demolishing the carriage and hurling thousands of 
fragments, great and small, in every direction. 
Though each man of the squad working the piece 
was in his proper position, and consequently near the 
gun, while many others were standing around in the 
battery, it is remarkable that the only casualty was 



iNote by A. S. Salley, Jr. : One of our standing myths. It was 
built by South Carolinians in 1812. We had no Spanish settle- 
ments in South Carolina and no Spanish forts, yet all the old 
forts are ascribed to the Spanish if their history is not known to 
the rank and file. 

2Arx Carolina (Fort Charles) is not now "standing." There is 
nothing left but the outlines thereof. The writer is probably 
confusing it with Fort Frederick. — A. S. S., Jr. 



Edisto Rifles. 31 

the wounding of Sergeant Ben P. Izlar, slightly in 
the face and leg. 

Most of the time on Cole's Island was devoted to 
guard duty, company, and battalion drill. It took 
some time to get the regiment well up to the standard, 
as most of the men knew absolutely nothing of mil- 
itary movements or the duty of a soldier before 
enlisting; and the officers, as a rule, were very little 
more familiar with tactics than the privates in the 
ranks; as the following episode will serve to illus- 
trate. On an occasion when the regiment was being 
drilled by Colonel Hagood, he wishing to have exe- 
cuted a certain evolution, gave the command : 

"Attention, Battalion ! 

"Change front forward on fifth company. 

"Right wing about face. 

"By company right half wheel, march ! 

"Forward, march, guide right."* 

Nine of the captains managed to pull through 
without much trouble ; one, being less fortunate, got 
badly muddled and confused, went off at a tangent in 
his reckless attempt to execute the movement. See- 
ing how ridiculous the company appeared. Colonel 
Hagood lost patience somewhat, and called out in a 

high voice, "Captain , where in hell are you 

going? Your men's legs look like a basket of cobs !" 
Whereupon the captain yelled at the top of his voice, 
"Company, halt!" He managed to get back in line, 
eventually, with the assistance of the adjutant. This 



♦Hardee's Tactics. 



32 Edisto Rifles. 

incident was a great source of amusement to the 
regiment for a long time. 

This same captain, however, afterwards developed 
into a very good officer and rose to the rank of major 
before the close of the war. 

"Time, chance and a favoring sky 
Will change a grub to a butterfly." 

George H. Curtiss, of the Edisto Rifles, and myself 
were detailed and placed in charge of the commis- 
sary department of the regiment. We received all 
stores, and issued all rations to the troops. Donald J. 
Rowe, another Edisto Rifleman, was the quarter- 
master sergeant. We all occupied a house outside of 
the lines, and were allowed to pass and repass the 
sentries at pleasure. This was considered a grand 
privilege by the less fortunate. There were no heavy 
guns mounted in the forts on Cole's Island, a 32- 
pounder was about the largest calibre. 

One of the Yankee blockading squadron came in 
one day as near as Bird Key and threw a few shells 
towards the island, but they all fell short. The forts 
returned the fire, but fell short also. I stood behind 
the guns and could easily see the shells from the time 
they left the guns as they made their flight through 
the air, 'till lost to sight in the distance. I have done 
the same thing by standing in rear of a battery of 
field pieces, but not always successfully. 

The regiment remained on Cole's Island till April 
12, 1862, at which time, its term of service having 




.NAMri:j. LMilKlj;. Fikst LiEt tkxaxt. Kdisto Kili.s. 
Photo after war 

Captured on a Scout, Long Island. S. C. July 8. 1863. Captured. 
Town Creek, X. C. Feb. 10. 1805 



Edisto Rifles. 33 

expired, it was disbanded. The Edisto Rifles imme- 
diately re-enlisted for three years or the war, under 
the same officers, and joined the Eutaw Battalion, 
commanded by Major Charles H. Simonton, who 
came to Cole's Island with his battalion just at this 
time. Several of the members of the company went 
into other organizations. Thos. K. Legare and 
Medicus Rickenbaker each raised a company and 
joined the Second Regiment of heavy artillery. The 
Edisto Rifles soon recruited to the maximum, and 
very soon afterwards the Twenty-fifth (Eutaw)* 
Regiment of South Carolina Volunteer Infantry 
was formed, by other companies joining the Eutaw 
Battalion, under the following officers : 

Charles H. Simonton, colonel; John G. Pressley, 
lieutenant-colonel; John V. Glover, major; George 
H. MofFett, adjutant; J. E. Adger, quartermaster; 
D. D. Barr, commissary of subsistence; Wm. C. 
Ravenel, surgeon; A. Toomer Porter, chaplain. 

The captains of the different companies composing 
the regiment were : James M. Carson, Company A, 
Washington Light Infantry ; E. W. Lloyd, Company 
B, Washington Light Infantry; T. J. China, Com- 
pany C, Wee Nee Volunteers ; W. J. McKerall, Com- 
pany D, Marion Light Infantry; N. B. Mazyck, 
Company E, Beauregard Light Infantry ; M. Henry 
Sellers, Company F, St. Matthew's Rifles; James F. 
Izlar, Company G, Edisto Rifles; S. LeRoy Ham- 



*One of the finest bands in the Confederate Army was attached 
to the Twenty-fifth Regiment. The bugler for the regiment, and 
also a member of the band, Wm. Galloway, was the bugler for 
Major Anderson in Fort Sumter. 

3— E. R. 



34 Edisto Rifles. 

mond, Company H, Yeadon Light Infantry ; Y. N. 
Butler, Company I, Clarendon Guards ; W. B. Gor- 
don, Company K. 

Captain John V. Glover having been promoted 
to the rank of major of the regiment. Lieutenant 
James F. Izlar became captain of the Edisto Rifles 
and First Sergpant George H. Elliott was elected 
third lieutenant to fill the vacancy in the company.* 
Though nature had not been very lavish towards 
Lieutenant Elliott in physical adornment or military 
appearance, still he was an all-round good man and 
a first rate soldier. 

The regiment was mustered into Confederate 
service on the 22nd of July, 1862. f Colonel Johnson 
Hagood, who still commanded the First Regiment 
after its reorganization, was promoted to the rank of 
brigadier general on the 21st of July, 1862, and later 
when his brigade was made up the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment was assigned to it. After the evacuation 
of Cole's Island, the regiment was stationed at dif- 
ferent points on James Island. Several times it was 
stationed at Secessionville, which is a summer resort 
of the planters and situated on the ocean side of the 
island, with several streams and creeks intervening, 
however. A most disagreeable and tiresome picket 
duty was inaugurated here which was done in small 
boats at night. The detail for picket duty, which 
consisted of a sergeant and four men, was furnished 



*Second Sergeant Ben P. Izlar became orderly. 

tAt this date the Edisto Rifles and remaining companies of the 
Twenty-fifth Regiment were mustered into the Confederate States 
Army for three years or the war. 



Edisto Rifles. 



35 



with different colored rockets to be sent up in case 
the enemy were discovered approaching, with inten- 
tion of making a night attack, in small boats from 
the fleet on Folly Island. By the color of the rocket 
used as the signal the information would be con- 
veyed from what point the attack was threatened, 
and the size of the force. The pickets were required 
to go down the creek till reaching a point about half- 
way from Secessionville to the mouth of Light 
House Inlet, and remain there all night, and exercise 
extreme vigilance. One can easily imagine how ter- 
ribly tiresome it was to sit on the narrow, uncom- 
fortable seat of an ordinary fisherman's rowboat, 
with scarcely room enough to even change your posi- 
tion, for at least ten hours. 

On the 16th of June, 1862, the enemy made an 
assault on the fort at Secessionville with a force of 
about 3,000 men. The Twenty-fifth Regiment, under 
Colonel Charles H. Simonton, was ordered into posi- 
tion by General Hagood and during the battle lost 
several killed and wounded. The Edisto Rifles 
escaped without any casualty. Some of the Yankees 
killed in the fight by the fire of the regiment, fell in 
less than ten paces in front of the regimental line. 
The attacking force of the enemy was repulsed with 
considerable loss. The victory was complete for the 
Confederates; although the enemy at one time 
mounted the parapet. TYhen this attack was made 
the fort was in very poor condition for defense; some 
of the guns were not mounted, and the fort itself was 
not finished. It was afterwards made much stronger, 



36 Edisto Rifles. 

but the Yankees seemed to be quite satisfied with this 
attempt to capture it, and never again repeated the 
attack. 

When we occupied Secessionville it was frequently 
shelled by the Yankee batteries, and our guns 
would be opened also on theirs. Usually very little 
damage was done by their shells. On one occasion, 
however, while this artillery duel was in progress, 
and Colonel Pressley was superintending the firing 
of our battery, a shell from the Yankees exploded 
in our camp and wounded a brother of the colonel. 
One of the men went to the battery where he was 
and told him that his brother's hand had been torn 
off by a piece of shell. Pressley's only reply was, "It 
is very much to be regretted ; give them another shell, 
lieutenant." You should not infer from this that he 
was devoid of the finer feelings and a heartless man ; 
on the contrary, he was a thoroughly sympathetic 
man, but at the same time he was every inch a 
soldier. 

In October, 1862, the Charleston and Savannah 
Railroad being threatened, the Twenty-fifth Regi- 
ment was ordered to Pocotaligo to reinforce the 
troops at that point. We went on open cars, the 
weather being bitter cold, the troops suffered very 
much. When we reached there the fight was about 
over, and the enemy repulsed with considerable loss. 
The regiment returned at once to James Island. 

In December, 1862, the Twenty-fifth Regiment was 
ordered to Wilmington, North Carolina, but in a few 
days was ordered back to Charleston. In February, 



Edisto Rifles. 37 

1863, it was again ordered to Wilmington; this time 
it remained about two or three weeks, and was again 
ordered back, and again going into camp at Seces- 
sionville. 

On July 8th, Lieutenant Samuel Dibble of the 
Edisto Rifles, while scouting on Long Island, was 
captured by the Yankees, and sent to a Northern 
prison on Johnson's Island. He was accompanied 
on this expedition by Sergeant McLeod of the Wash- 
ington Light Infantry. Besides the usual supplies 
for a trip of this kind, they took with them a large 
spyglass belonging to Lieutenant Elliott. When 
Dibble was captured the glass was also. McLeod 
managed to escape, and while making his way back 
to the boat which they had used in going over to the 
island, he captured a Yankee scout, who also had a 
spyglass, and brought him into camp. So honors 
were easy, with this exception : we lost a good officer 
and a large glass, and got in exchange a private and 
a small one. 

On the 16th of July General Hagood, being in 
command of the island, was ordered to make a recon- 
noisance towards the Stono River with several regi- 
ments. That part of James Island was then held 
by the enemy with a considerable force, the most of 
them being negro troops, under command of Colonel 
Montgomery. Hagood made the attack early in the 
morning, driving them back and capturing quite a 
number of prisoners. The Yankees hastily sought 
safety under the protection of their gunboats lying 
in the Stono River. Many of them were killed on 



38 Edisto Rifles. 

the picket line by our skirmishers. They became 
panic-stricken and evacuated the island that night. 
Lieutenant- Colonel Pressley was in command of the 
Twenty-fifth Regiment on this occasion, and seeing 
a battery of field pieces stationed at Legare's house, 
which was firing at our line rapidly but doing little 
execution, he ordered the regiment to fix bayonets, 
and was in the act of giving the command to charge, 
when he was stopped by order of some superior 
officer, telling him that the orders were to go only 
so far, and that point had been reached. This bat- 
tery was not exceeding two hundred yards from us, 
or perhaps not so far, and was without support, so 
far as could be seen, and its capture was a foregone 
conclusion. The regiment was sadly disappointed 
in not having the honor of capturing it and bringing 
it into our lines. In speaking of this incident after- 
wards, Colonel Pressley said he would regret as long 
as he lived, that he did not charge that battery, 
notwithstanding it would have been contrary to 
orders. 

The Edisto Rifles was at that time being drilled in 
the bayonet exercise by an English officer by the 
name of Cockins. He went into the fight with the 
skirmishers and killed one or more of the negro 
soldiers with his pistol. 

Privates Luther Myers and S. P. Hall, of the 
Edisto Rifles, were wounded. I picked up two good 
rubber tent flies and a new silk oilcloth raincoat 
which were left behind by the Yankees in their hasty 
flight. 



Edisto Rifles. 39 

Shortly after this I was detailed in the ordnance 
office and stationed at Dill's Bluff. There I was 
taken sick with typhoid fever and was sent home till 
I recovered. When I returned I reported to the 
company for duty. 

A part of the regiment, including the Edisto 
Rifles, garrisoned Fort Sumter during one of the 
terrific bombardments by the Monitors. From the 
effects of the shells upon the walls of the fort, one of 
the casements fell in, killing thirteen of the Wash- 
ington Light Infantry, who were occupying it as 
quarters. 

On the first day of September, 1863, a battalion 
of ^ the Twenty-fifth Regiment, the Edisto Rifles 
being one of the companies, composed a part of the 
garrison of Fort Wagner the last five days it was 
held by the Confederate forces, and was among the 
last troops to leave when it was evacuated at 11 
o'clock on the night of the sixth of September. The 
Federal flag was flying over one angle of the fort 
while the Confederates marched quietly out of the 
sally-port on their way to Cumming's Point to make 
their escape in small boats to Forts Johnson and 
Sumter. This was successfully accomplished, with 
the loss of only one boat, containing Major F. F. 
Warley, of Second Artillery, and a few other 
soldiers, captured by the enemy. It is indeed singu- 
larly remarkable that a larger number were not made 
prisoners. 

The duty in Wagner was so arduous and exhaust- 
ing that the garrison had to be relieved every few 



40 Edisto Rifles. 

days. The detachment from the Twenty-fifth Regi- 
ment, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Press- 
ley, went into Wagner on the night of the first day 
of September, being about the last troops ever sent 
there. I consider the duty in Wagner the most fear- 
ful experience of the four years in the war ; especially 
the last three days and nights. No water, no sleep, 
very little to eat ; and all the while fifteen-inch shells 
were being hurled in broadsides against the fort and 
the silent and suffering, but faithful garrison, by the 
powerful armament of the enemy's fleet. At the 
same time from quite a number of Coehorn mortars, 
which the Federal engineers had succeeded in placing 
very near the fort on the land side, an incessant 
shower of shells were being thrown over the parapet, 
falling promiscuously all over the interior of the fort 
and parade. On one of the vessels in the harbor the 
enemy had placed a revolving calcium light, which 
when turned on the fort made it almost as light as 
day and therefore it was impossible for the garrison 
and engineers to repair at night the damage sus- 
tained by the fort in the day's bombardment. Sen- 
tinels, posted on the parapet behind large stacks of 
sand bags for protection, were frequently knocked 
fifty feet by the projectiles thrown by the frigate 
New Ironsides^ which had taken a position about 
five hundred yards from the fort and was firing 
broadsides from fifteen-inch guns every few minutes. 
Moses Rawlinson, a member of the Edisto Rifles, met 
his death in this manner. The mangled dead lay 
thick on every side, and their fast decaying remains 




T. A. ELLIOTT 

Mortally wounded near Chickamauora 



Edisto Rifles. 41 

under a hot September sun impregnated the atmos- 
phere with a sickening noisome odor. Occasional 
showers of rain falling on these putrifying bodies, 
and seeping through the sandy soil, rendered the 
water supply, which to a large extent Avas obtained 
by digging shallow holes in the sand and sinking 
barrels therein, entirely unfit for use, and repulsive 
to smell. All of this, added to the groans of the 
dying and shrieks of the wounded, was enough to 
cause the stoutest heart to shudder and blanch the 
cheeks of the bravest of the brave. 

During these terrific bombardments by the fleet 
and land batteries, it was impossible for the troops 
to remain exjoosed, and they were kept in the bomb- 
proof, except the sentinels and a few gunners. The 
bombproof was built of very heavy timbers and 
covered w^ith ten or fifteen feet of sand. When the 
Ironsides would fire a broadside of shells from her 
fifteen-inch guns, the impact against the bombproof 
would cause the whole structure to quiver to its 
foundation, and the sand to fall in showers through 
interstices of the timbers down on the sweltering 
soldiers. It was horrifying to think that at any 
moment the fabric might give way and every one be 
buried in the wreck. Before the fort was evacuated 
the sand had been knocked off in one place down to 
the timbers. The charge of the Light Brigade was a 
holiday parade in comparison to the experience in 
Wagner. 

After Hagood's brigade went to Virginia, it went 
into a charge with about seven hundred men and 



42 Edisto Rifles. 

retired with about two hundred. Though the carnage 
was fearful it lasted but a short time and was, there- 
fore, preferable to the long spunout suffering and 
nervous strain in Wagner. An account of this bat- 
tle will be given in the proper place. 

The Edisto Rifles was singularly fortunate while 
in Wagner, having only four casualties: Private 
Moses Rawlinson, killed; wounded: Corporal Wil- 
liam Paulling, Privates Evan Myers and D. T. 
Bozard. 

It is a little singular that Wagner in its final 
struggle was commanded by Colonel Lawrence M. 
Keitt of Orangeburg ; garrisoned largely by Orange- 
burg troops, and the preparations for evacuation and 
boat transportation were in charge and supervision 
of Colonel Olin M. Dantzler of Orangeburg. During- 
the siege of Wagner the Yankees had established a 
picket post at the mouth of Vincent's Creek on the 
James Island side. On the night of the fourth day 
of August, Captain Henry Sellers of the Twenty- 
fifth took a detail, attacked this post and captured 
the whole Yankee picket force and brought them 
back with him. He had one man killed (Furtick) ; 
his body was brought back also. 

After the evacuation of Fort Wagner, the Edisto 
Rifles again did garrison duty in Fort Sumter. 
Being detailed as sergeant of the guard, it was a part 
of my duty to post the sentinels on the outer walls of 
the fort at night. The wall on the seaface, or gorge 
wall, from the effects of the heavy and continuous 
bombardment by the fleet and land batteries, at this. 



Edisto Rafles. 43 

time had crumbled and fallen to such an extent that 
one could with very little difficulty walk up from the 
water over into the fort. While the sentinels were 
being posted this heavy and rapid cannonade was in 
progress. One of my brothers was on the detail for 
sentry duty. On leaving him, after reaching his 
post, I told him good-bye, never again expecting to 
see him alive. Two hours later when I took out the 
relief guard I found him unhurt, but perfectly will- 
ing for the next man to take his place. 

The Yankee artillerists at this time had become 
very expert, and I have seen them make some 
remarkable shots. A young signal officer by the 
name of Huger, who was stationed in Fort Sumter, 
one day went up to the top of the fort, when no firing 
was going on, and rested his telescope on the parapet 
to make observations. His whole body was hidden, 
only his head showing above the fort. The Yankees 
trained a gun on him from Cumming's Point and 
shot his head off. They frequently would cut the 
halyard of the flag as it was being lowered at sun- 
down by a shell from one of their batteries. Such 
occurrences were too often to be mere accident. 

Hagood's brigade, which was composed of the fol- 
lowing regiments: Eleventh Regiment, South Caro- 
lina Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel 
F. Hay Gantt; Twenty-first Regiment, South Caro- 
lina Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Robert F. Graham ; 
Twenty-fifth Regiment, South Carolina Volunteer 
Infantry, Colonel Charles H. Simonton; Twenty- 
seventh Regiment, South Carolina Volunteer 



44 Edisto Rifles. 

Infantry, Colonel Peter C. Gaillard; Seventh 
Battalion, South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Nelson, was ordered to Vir- 
ginia in May, 1864. A part of the Twenty-first 
Regiment and a battalion of the Twenty-fifth 
reached Petersburg on the morning of the sixth day 
of May. Major John V. Glover w^as in command of 
the battalion from the Twenty-fifth Regiment, in 
which was the Edisto Rifles. On arriving at Peters- 
burg, Colonel Robert F. Graham took command of 
the two battalions, being the ranking officer present 
from the brigade, and we were hurried forward by 
rail to Walthall Junction to meet a strong force of 
the enemy which was advancing on that place and 
threatening Petersburg from that direction. Wal- 
thall Junction is a station on the railroad between 
Petersburg and Richmond, and about seven miles 
from the first named city. Arriving there, the troops 
were hastily gotten from the cars and quickly formed 
in line of battle; the enemy being in sight and 
advancing in force, and not more than a half mile 
distant. Colonel Graham moved forward about a 
hundred yards and chose a good position in an old 
sunken roadbed, and awaited the approach of the 
Federals, who were moving forward slowly and cau- 
tiously. As soon as they got within good range the 
battle opened with a steady fire from both sides. The 
Yankee force consisted of a brigade of infantry and 
a battery of artillery, under command of General 
Hickman, supported by another infantry brigade. 



Edisto Rifles. 45 

The Confederates numbered about five hundred 
men, with no artillery. The enemy pressed the attack 
with considerable vigor, but was repulsed with con- 
siderable loss, many being killed and wounded. The 
Confederates lost 35 killed and wounded. Among 
the severely wounded was Sam Hall of the Edisto 
Eifles. 

The following is the report of this engagement 
made by Major General W. F. Smith, Hickman's 
Corps, commander : 

"Headquarters Eighteenth Corps, 
"May 27th, 1864. 
"Maj. Genl. B. F. Butler: 

"The attempt on the railroad failed, because the 
enemy resisted with unexpected strength. The place 
could have been carried probably, but only with a 
loss which General Hickman did not think proper 
to suffer for this object and risking the probable 
annihilation of his command. It is proposed now to 
renew the attempt with a force that will overcome 
all opposition. General Hickman reports troops 
brought in by rail from both directions during the 
fight. Colonel Button and Captain Webb, who were 
present, report troops as most ably handled, and 
behaving with greatest gallantry. General Hickman 
and both these officers are confident that the opposing 
forces consisted of veterans, and were little, if any, 
inferior in numbers, their position being one of great 
strength, though not fortified. 

"W. F. Smith, Maj. Gen." 



46 Edisto Eifles. 

No troops were brought in from either direction 
to reinforce the Confederates during the fight as 
reported by General Hickman. Both the Confed- 
erates and Federals, however, were reinforced during 
the night. General Hagood arrived with the 
remainder of his brigade, and also General Bushrod 
Johnson with his brigade, and the next morning the 
battle was renewed with much vigor and persistence 
by both sides, the enemy at one time getting posses- 
sion of the railroad, which they held tenaciously for 
several hours, but were finally driven from their 
position by the Twenty-fifth Regiment under Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel John G. Pressley. Near the close of 
the fight when the enemy were making their last 
stand, Colonel Pressley, Russell Zimmerman and 
myself had crossed the railroad in advance of the 
line of battle, and had taken position on a little hill; 
the three standing in line, and almost near enough 
together to touch elbows, I being in the center, when 
Russell Zimmerman was shot down, the ball striking 
him in the right eye and killing him instantly. He 
was on my left. Colonel Pressley a moment later 
was shot down, but not killed. As he fell back I 
caught him in my arms and placed him gently on 
the ground. The balls striking each of them was 
distinctly heard by myself, making a dull thud that 
lingered in my mind for months afterwards. 

In this battle the Edisto Rifles had two fine 
soldiers killed: Sergeant J. E. Rast and Private 
Lewis Jenkins. Rast was killed outright, shot 
through the heart. J. M. O. Holman and E. E. 



Edisto Kafles. 47 

Inabinet, privates in the company, were wounded. 
After the fight was over, which was soon after the 
wounding of Colonel Pressley, I went back at his 
request in search of the ambulance corps, to have 
him brought from the field and receive medical 
attention. In going back I passed along the grounds 
over which the regiment had advanced in the fight. 
I found Sergeant Rast near the railroad dead, and 
Private Lewis Jenkins mortally wounded some 
distance farther back. He recognized and feebly 
spoke to me. I gave him water, but saw from his 
extreme condition that a few minutes more was all 
he had to live. He died on the field. They were 
both buried near where they fell. Subsequently 
their bodies were brought home. I succeeded in 
finding some of the litter bearers and had Colonel 
Pressley brought back to the turnpike where his 
wound was dressed by Dr. Logan. When we reached 
the surgeon with Colonel Pressley, he was dressing 
the wound of Captain Wm. E. Stoney, the A. A. 
general of Hagood's brigade. He was lying on a 
stretcher, and his face was as white as a sheet. He 
was shot through the breast. I did not think it pos- 
sible as I gazed in his face that he could survive, 
but he did and lived for many years after the war 
closed. When I returned with the litter bearers to 
Colonel Pressley, and they were placing him on the 
stretcher, I picked up his sword, which fell to the 
ground when he was shot. He seeing what I had 
done said, "Yes, bring it along; I may never have 
use for it again, but I have a son at home who will." 



48 Edisto Rifles. 

He wore on this occasion a new uniform, and when 
the surgeon commenced to cut it, that the wound 
might be located, which was in the shoulder of the 
sword arm. Colonel Pressley said to him, "Rip it in 
the seam, doctor ; rip it in the seam !" Uniforms cost 
money in those days, and he did not propose to have 
his dissected by the doctor. When the surgeon had 
given him all the aid possible under the circum- 
stances he was placed in an ambulance and taken to 
the hospital in Petersburg. He insisted that I should 
go with him, which I did. He talked in a hazy, 
rambling manner of the fight and conduct of the 
troops all the way to the city ; caused, I suppose, by 
the anesthetic administered by the surgeon. After 
seeing him properly cared for at the hospital, I 
returned to Walthall Junction, riding Colonel 
Pressley's horse, "Chester," which he instructed me 
to turn over to Major Glover, who was then in com- 
mand of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, by Colonel 
Pressley being hors de combat. The regiment lost 
the services of a brave and intrepid officer when he 
was so seriously wounded; and one to whom the 
men had become greatly attached. Though a rigid 
disciplinarian, he guarded jealously the rights of his 
men, and would brook no imposition on them or 
interference with them. He never was able to rejoin 
the command, his right arm being resected near the 
shoulder joint. He was a lawyer by profession, and 
after the war he moved to California, where he was 
elected judge. He died about 1890. 







SERGEANT Wm. V. IZLAR 

Edisto Rifles 

Captured Town Creek, N. C, Feb. 10, 
18G5 



Edisto Rifles. 49 

The ladies of Petersburg voted a flag to Hagood's 
brigade for this great victory and saving Petersburg 
from capture by the enemy. I have no recollection 
of the flag having ever been received by the brigade. 
In the reports of this battle two of the Edisto 
Rifles are mentioned as having acted with conspicu- 
ous gallantry. (See Official Records of the War.) 
One of them now has in his possession the original 
letters written by the commander of the Twenty- 
fifth Regiment in this battle to Adjutant-General 
Cooper, of the Confederate States, in which he urges 
the promotion of this Edisto Rifleman, stating his 
reasons in a detailed account of valorous incidents 
and deeds performed by him which came under the 
personal observation of the regimental commander 
during the battle. These papers have also a flatter- 
ing endorsement by the brigade commander, General 
Johnson Hagood. 

During the night the Confederate forces evacuated 
Walthall Junction and fell back about three miles 
nearer Petersburg and established a line behind 
Swift Creek; Captain James F. Izlar of the Edisto 
Rifles withdrawing the outpost pickets and bringing 
up the rear. The arrival of General Butler with his 
whole army made this retrograde movement a mili- 
tary necessity. Hagood's brigade threw up works 
about two hundred yards from Swift Creek, on the 
Petersburg side, and made preparations to meet the 
advance of Butler's army. The Twenty-fifth Regi- 
ment was placed on the right of the turnpike facing 
towards Richmond. Some of these fortifications are 

4— E. R. 



50 Eeisto Rifles. 

standing there today (1908) in fairly good preserva- 
tion. 

Butler's army came up and occupied the high 
grounds on the opposite side of the creek, facing the 
Confederates. Our picket line was established near 
the creek, and on the post nearest the turnpike and 
bridge were men from Captain Sellers' company. 
This being the situation when late one afternoon, 
near dark, a lone horseman rode down the turnpike 
from towards Petersburg, passing through our lines 
unmolested, and attempted to cross the bridge span- 
ning the creek. When called upon to halt by the 
pickets, he spurred his horse forward, whereupon he 
was fired upon by them and both he and his horse 
killed. One of the Shulers, of Sellers' company, was 
supposed to have fired the fatal shot which brought 
down the rider. From memoranda found on his 
body he proved to be a Yankee scout. Where he 
came from or how he got in our lines was never 
found out. In the distribution of his outfit, I fell 
heir to his shoes. Not being over particular at that 
time as to style, fit or finish, I thought myself in 
great luck. 

A few days later a reconnoisance was made across 
the creek by the Eleventh Regiment and a battalion 
from the Twenty-fifth, all under command of 
Colonel Gantt. It was not long after crossing over 
before the enemy was struck in strong force, when a 
short but severe engagement followed, in which 
Captain Hammond and both of his lieutenants. Sea- 
brook and Hammond, were killed, leaving his com- 



Edisto Rifles. 51 

pany without a commissioned officer. All three of 
them were good officers. Captain Hammond was of 
poetic turn of mind and wrote some very pretty 
verses under the nom de plume of "Charlie Wild- 
wood." 

From unknown cause, the Federal General Butler 
(known as "Beast" Butler), the night after this 
affair fell back with his whole army to Bermuda 
Hundred. The Confederates finding the way open at 
once took up the march to Drewry's Bluff by way of 
the turnpike, bivouacking for the night about half- 
way between Petersburg and Richmond, and in close 
proximity to Butler's army; why we were not 
attacked that night I never could understand; we 
were not molested, however, and the troops moved 
forward at daybreak next morning, and on reaching 
Drewry's Bluff occupied the outer line of fortifica- 
tions, which had already been built for the defense 
of Fort Darling and Richmond, the capital of the 
Confederacy. 

On the march to Drewry's Bluff we passed over 
the ground where a few days before had been fought 
a severe cavalry skirmish. One of the troopers had 
the misfortune of having his horse killed in the 
action and had buried her near the turnpike, placing 
a piece of board to mark the spot, on which he had 
carved with his penknife this inscription : 

"Fast, fearless and faithful, 

Fanny, 
The war horse of Darden." 



52 Edisto Rifles. 

I have a profound respect and admiration for any 
man who has a heart big and tender enough to be 
touched by the loss of his dumb but faithful com- 
panion. It was a rough board and crude carving, it 
is true, but by these were expressed more genuine 
sorrow and feeling than is often felt by those erect- 
ing elaborate and costly marble shafts in memory 
of departed relatives. Finding our force too small 
to hold the outer line of fortifications successfully, 
the troops were withdrawn to the inner or shorter 
line. General Butler soon came up with the Federal 
troops and occupied the line which had been aban- 
doned by the Confederates, and at once went to work 
strengthening and making such other changes neces- 
sary to an attacking or investing army. The Con- 
federates having been considerably augmented by 
troops from around Richmond, and General Beaure- 
gard having arrived on the field and taken command, 
decided to recover the lines which the Yankees were 
then occupying. 

Early in the morning of May the 16th the Fed- 
erals were attacked by the Confederates and driven 
from the entrenchments, all the lines were recovered, 
Butler's army routed, precipitately fled back to Ber- 
muda Hundred. 

As General Grant expressed it, "Butler had been 
bottled up by Beauregard." 

The Edisto Rifles lost in killed and wounded in 
the battle of Drewry's Bluff fifteen men. Killed: 
Lieutenant George H. Elliott, Corporal J. R. Ken- 
nerly; Privates Morgan L. Austin and G. W. B. 



Edisto Eifles. 53 

Fairey. (All four of these were killed by the same 
shell.) Wounded: Sergeants Ben P. Izlar and 
J. H. Hook; Corporal Theodore Kohn; Privates 
Frank Inabinet, mortally; John Ashe, leg amputated 
above the knee; Andrew J. Smoak, Murray Robin- 
son, James H. Arant, Ben H. Sanders, E. H. Irick 
and O. J. Syphret. 

Lieutenant Elliott, Corporal Kennerly and Pri- 
vates Austin and Fairey were buried near the Peters- 
burg and Richmond turnpike, not far from where 
they were killed. 

Corporal Theodore Kohn was wounded in the 
hand about the time the enemy were driven from 
their works. I happened to be near him at the time, 
and he held up his hand to me and said: "Look here 
Wilhe, what the d— d Yankees have done to me." 
His language was so emphatic and earnest, that it 
made me feel like laughing, but I did not know how 
soon my turn might come. Corporal Kohn was by 
birth a Bavarian, coming South when about ten 
years old and making Orangeburg, South Carolina, 
his home; at maturity he was thoroughly Southern 
in sentiment and principle, and lost no time in 
responding to the first call to arms. He was in 
service for the four years, making a reliable and 
trustworthy soldier. After the war he did a success- 
ful mercantile business in Orangeburg for many 
years. He died in 1902. 

tho"'',.^? ''''''' ""^ ^^' C7on/edera*e Veteran there was reproduced 
he Photographs of three Confederate soldiers, wiTh the' request 

ate with Mr"T R^T^'' ^/ ^"^ '' '""^'^ ''''''^^' '^ ^---^ 
ni 7 l\u ^^^'■°' ^^- ^507 Southport Avenue Chicajro 

111., and they would be returned. These pictures were sa^d to 



54 Edisto Kifles. 

When the troops were advancing to the attack on 
the morning of the 16th, Ben Sanders, of the Edisto 
Rifles, picked up a piece of sole leather about a foot 
square, and one of the boys said to him, "Take that 
along, Ben, it is a good thing to have." "I am going 
to," replied Ben. He had scarcely said this, when 
he was struck by a minnie ball and badly wounded. 
He threw down the leather and called out lustily: 
"Some one take me away from here !" Ben was a 
first rate little red-headed fellow. The boys all 
called him "Chucker", being but another name for 
Woodpecker. He moved to Texas after the war and 
died there. 

Captain J. H. Brooks, of the Seventh Battalion, 
took his company into the fight numbering seventy- 
five men. He had twenty killed and forty-five 
wounded ; only ten came out unhurt. 

A Federal battery of field pieces, of five guns, 
stationed on the turnpike, commanded by Captain 
Belcher, was captured by Hagood's Brigade, with a 
number of prisoners. The doughty captain pre- 
sented a somewhat picturesque appearance in his wet 
and muddy uniform, and he thought it necessary to 
make an explanation by saying when he saw that his 



have been picked up by this Federal soldier when Sherman's Army 
passed through South Carolina, and who had them in his possession 
since that time. I was surprised in seeing these pictures in The 
Veteran to recognize three members of the Edisto Rifles : Sergeants 
Ben P. Izlar and Wm. V. Izlar and Corporal Theodore Kohn. I at 
once communicated with Mr. Thorn, who returned the pictures to 
me. I have duplicates of these pictures taken by Quimby of 
Charleston in 1862, taken from same negatives. From the descrip- 
tion of the place from where these photos were taken, one can 
easily recognize my father's home.] 



Edisto Rifles. 55 

battery would be captured he lay down in a ditch 
to protect himself from the minie balls. I don't 
know but what he did as many others would have 
done under the same circumstances. Minie balls 
have a very spiteful sound in passing through the 
air, and an ugly way of not giving the road to any- 
thing or anybody. 

After the battle was over I took the captain with 
other prisoners back to the Bluff and turned them 
over to the provost guard. 

In the reports made of this battle two members of 
the Edisto Eifles were mentioned for conspicuous 
gallantry: Sergeant Ben P. Izlar and Corporal 
Ira T. Shoemaker. (See Records of War of the 
Rebellion.) 

To illustrate how wild and aimless firing is often 
done in battles, I will relate a circumstance which 
came under my observation while the fight was 
raging and firing fiercest : There was a tall pine tree 
standing just on the inside of the line of fortifica- 
tions or breastworks and my attention being 
attracted in that direction, I noticed that the balls 
from the rifles of the Yankees were cutting the 
needles and cones from extreme top of this tree, 
and knocking the bark off all the way down as low 
as the breastworks. It is reasonable to suppose that 
thousands of them went even higher than this pine. 
At the time of this incident the two lines of battle 
were not more than one hundred yards apart. I 
had often thought, how it was possible for so few to 
be slain when there was such terrific firing; the 



56 Edisto Rifles. 

mystery was solved on that day. When you consider 
the great amount of ammunition expended in battles, 
the loss of life is insignificant in comparison. 
Soldiers never go into a battle with less than forty 
rounds to the man, and frequently sixty, and very 
often they have to be replenished during the engage- 
ment. In a battle where 5,000 men are engaged 
having forty rounds to the man, will make in the 
aggregate 200,000 cartridges ; if the fight last several 
hours all of these will be expended, and perhaps 
more, as already stated. If 500 men are killed, which 
is a fair and liberal estimate for the number engaged, 
we have then only one fatal shot out of every 400 
cartridges fired, or, in other words, 399 misses to one 
hit, counting the killed as hits. This estimate is 
made when no artillery is used. 

This low rate of mortality is caused by excitement 
and reckless firing, which shows how very essential 
it is to have a cool and steady commander, one who 
by his own demeanor and example inspires confi- 
dence in his men. 

As a rule, when about equal numbers are engaged, 
victory always goes to the army that is well organ- 
ized, well commanded and free from any semblance 
of demoralization. There was much military wisdom 
in the order or admonition of Colonel Prescott at the 
Battle of Bunker Hill, to the Continental troops 
when being charged by the British : "Wait till you 
can see the whites of their eyes before firing." 

It would seem from the estimate made of the killed 
in battles, that soldiers ought not to feel any great 




SERGEANT L. HAYNE CULLER 
Edisto Rifles 

Captured Town Creek. N. C, Feb. 10, 
1865 



Edisto Rifles. 57 

fear when going into a fight, that is when he has 399 
chances in his favor out of 400 ; but I never yet saw 
one who went crazy by not having the opportunity 
of taking even that chance in the lottery. It is well 
to remember that there are exceptions to this rule in 
many instances: frequently, two or three men are 
killed by one rifle ball, or half a dozen by the burst- 
ing of a shell fired by a field piece. 

After all, war is a pretty hazardous game, under 
the most favorable circumstances, and it is never safe 
to tempt fate or dare death rashly or needlessly. 

The plan of the battle of Drewry's Bluff was fault- 
less, and had the orders of General Beauregard been 
carried out General Butler and his army would have 
inevitably been captured, which was the intention 
of the Confederate commander. The part of the 
program he took upon himself, which by far was 
the most important, was a great success, in every 
particular. 

The following order was issued to Major General 
Whiting, commanding at Petersburg and only 
twleve miles from Drewy's Bluff, on May the 15th, 
the day before the battle : 

"General: I shall attack the enemy in my front 
tomorrow at daylight by river road to cut him off 
from his Bermuda base. You will take up your 
position tonight on Swift Creek with Wise's, Mar- 
tin's and Bearing's brigades and tw^o of Colquitt's 
regiments, and about twenty pieces under Colonel 
Jones. At daylight you will march to Walthall 



58 Edisto Rifles. 

Junction, and when you hear an engagement in your 
front, you will advance boldly and rapidly by 
shortest road, in direction of heaviest firing, to attack 
enemy in rear or flank. You will protect your flanks 
with Bearing's cavalry, taking necessary precautions 
to distinguish friends from foes. This revokes all 
former orders for movements. 

"Respectfully your obedient servant, 

"G. T. Beauregard, 
"General Commanding." 

Unfortunately Butler's beaten, demoralized and 
retreating army was permitted to reach Burmuda 
Hundred through the failure of this officer to execute 
the orders he received, and thereby this brillant 
conception of a rare, military genius was thwarted, 
and the fruits of a great victory lost. Butler and his 
fleeing army must have passed within a mile or two 
of General Whiting and his forces. Had the Con- 
federates attacked at this opportune time, in the 
flank while General Beauregard assailed them in the 
rear, the fate of Butler and his thirty thousand men 
would have been defeat and surrender. Somebody 
blundered of course. 

Not hearing anything from General Whiting, 
Beauregard put his army in motion and followed 
close behind the retreating Federals till they reached 
their base at Bermuda Hundred. Hagood's brigade 
engaged in heavy skirmishing with them at Ware 
Bottom Church, Captain Izlar of the Edisto Rifles 
being in command of the brigade skirmish line. The 



Edisto Rifles. 59 

severest firing I ever heard on a skirmish line was 
on this occasion. While the firing was hottest a 
frightened deer ran down the rear of the line of 
skirmishers of the brigade, the boys forgot the 
Yankees for the moment and turned their guns on 
the fleeing buck, and an Edisto Rifleman, Rufus 
Bonnett, had the distinction of bringing him down. 
They could not resist that innate feeling of the true 
Southern sportsman, even in the face of great dan- 
ger. 

On the 31st of May Hagood's Brigade was ordered 
from Bermuda Hundred to Richmond; marching to 
Chester station and taking cars for that city. When 
the pickets were being withdrawn preparatory to the 
march, I was sent by Major Glover, who was then 
in command of the Twenty-fifth, to bring in the 
pickets of the regiment. This required considerable 
cautiousness as the two lines in our front were very 
near together and the night not specially dark. In 
crossing a ravine which intersected the lines, I lost 
my direction somewhat, and found myself between 
the two lines and almost at that of the enemy. I was 
not discovered, however, and crept back, but being 
in danger of being shot by friends as well as foes. 
I succeeded in running the gauntlet in safety, and 
collecting all the pickets returned to the command. 

On reaching Richmond the brigade was marched 
via Mechanicsville and Gaines' Mill to Cold Harbor, 
and there on the first day of June became a part of 
the "Army of Northern Virginia" under General 
Robert E. Lee. The "Army of the Potomac," under 



60 Edisto Kifles. 

General U. S. Grant, was well up in front, and pre- 
parations for battle were being pushed by both com- 
manders. General Grant relied upon his powerful 
and well equipped army to crush General Lee by 
sheer force of numbers; and by frequent and heavy 
assaults he hoped to wear away the resources of his 
opponent. In other words, he expected to finally 
gain success "by attrition," as he designated this 
mode of warfare. 

While on the march and when the Twenty-fifth 
Kegiment reached Gaines' Mill, Major Glover, riding 
by a horse hitched on the side of the road, received a 
severe kick on his leg near his ankle; the effects of 
this kick proved quite painful in a few days. He 
remained at his post, however, like the good and 
brave soldier he was, but was so unfortunate as to 
be shot in the hand a short time after by one of the 
enemy's sharpshooters while in the trenches at Cold 
Harbor. These two wounds became so serious that 
he was ordered to the hospital in Richmond by the 
surgeon. A great misfortune befell the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment and the Southern cause when soon after 
reaching the hospital his wounds developed into 
erysipelas and he died. He was quiet, conscientious 
and brave; one of the finest officers in the brigade. 
On drill he was without a peer. I was greatly 
attached to him and felt his loss deeply. Sit tihi 
terra levis* 



*Colonel Simonton joined the regiment here ; but only for a few 
days, when he was again detached. 



Edisto Kifles. 61 

Captain Gordon being the ranking officer of the 
regiment present for duty, was placed in command 
of the regiment after Major Glover was sent to the 
hospital. 

When the brigade reached Cold Harbor a strong 
skirmish line was thrown forward under Captain 
Izlar of the Edisto Rifles and brisk fire was kept up 
with the enemy for several hours. As soon as a line 
of defense was selected, every man in the brigade 
went vigorously and energetically to work with his 
bayonet and tin cup to throw up a breastwork for 
protection. The enemy did not attack at once, but 
an advance was momentarily expected, as the 
Yankees were very near in our front and the move- 
ment of artillery and commands of officers distinctly 
heard. It is indeed surprising what a large amount 
of work can be accomplished in a short space of time 
with no better implements than tin cups and bay- 
onets under such circumstances, especially if the 
Yankee sharpshooters are getting in their work in 
good style, which they usually did. 

After the troops were fairly well protected and 
prepared, about daylight on the morning of June 
the 3rd the Federals made the assault. A large 
regiment commanded by Colonel Kellogg, which had 
only reached General Grant a day or two before, 
led the advance, and charged our line a little to the 
left of the Twenty-fifth Regiment. It advanced in 
fine order till it had reached a point about sixty 
yards from the Confederate line of works, when 
suddenly a scathing fire was vigorously opened upon 



62 Edisto Rifles. 

them; very few came any nearer. Colonel Kellogg 
was killed at the head of his regiment. The position 
reached by his troops was distinctly marked by a 
line of dead soldiers in blue in front of the Confed- 
erates. Another Federal colonel by the name of 
Townsend (if I remember correctly), who was also 
in the assaulting columns, becoming dazed by a 
wound he received in the head, rode up to our line 
and gave the command, "Cease firing!" Seeing his 
condition, he was brought in and sent to the hospital 
where he died. 

The actual length of time in making this general 
assault on the Confederate lines was not over ten 
minutes. In that short space of time General Grant 
lost 13,000 men. It seems incredible !* The Southern 
troops were very cool and confident, and fired with 
great accuracy and with deadly effect. Grant's army 
became thoroughly demoralized and positively 
refused to make another assault although orders 
were issued to that effect. The whole North became 
nervous and agitated, and many prominent men were 
inclined to open peace negotiations, but the Federal 
Army just about this critical time was successful in 
its operations at some other points, which somewhat 
allayed the fears of Northern politicians and 
imparted fresh enthusiasm to the despondent Army 
of the Potomac. 

General Grant abandoned his position at Cold 
Harbor and moved by left flank towards Richmond 
and the James River. After he withdrew his troops 



*The Confederate loss was insignificant in comparison. 



Edisto Rifles. 63 

from our front I walked over grounds which he had 
occupied, and saw many unburied dead and also a 
great many with only a few shovels of dirt thrown 
on them. Some of these were in sitting posture, as 
it were, leaning against trees, with dirt thrown on 
them, their feet and heads exposed. Evidence of 
hasty withdrawal was on all sides. 

While occupying the trenches at Cold Harbor the 
following incidents occurred: One beautiful fair 
day when all sharpshooting had ceased on the lines, 
and all was quiet and calm as though a general truce 
had been declared, — we sometimes had such intervals 
when you would not hear a gun for a day or more, — 
at such times the soldiers could move about with 
more freedom, and without so much fear of being the 
target for a sharpshooter, Sam Inabinet, of Captain 
Sellers's company, was sitting on the breastworks 
with his back towards the enemy cleaning his gun; 
Captain James F. Izlar, Lieutenant George H. 
Moffett and myself were standing in a rifle pit, about 
twenty-five feet in rear, and immediately in front of 
Inabinet, and facing towards him, when suddenly 
the Yankees fired a piece of artillery, which they 
trained on the group, the shell decapitating Inabinet 
and passing between two of us in the rifle pit, 
exploded a short distance in our rear. Our faces and 
uniforms were spattered with the poor fellow's blood 
and brains. These rifle pits are usually five or six 
feet long, and, therefore, a shell passing between two 
of the occupants must have missed them by a very 
narrow margin. The impact of this shell with the 



64 Edisto Rifles. 

clay in front of the pit which had been thrown out in 
excavating it. was clearly and plainly defined, so 
there was no mistake as to where it passed. 

Another incident with a little more humor 
attached occurred here also. Priyate Abe Rawlinson, 
of the Edisto Rifles, while returning from a spring 
where he had gone to fill his canteen, was discovered 
by the Yankees, who promptly opened fire on him. 
They missed Rawlinson, but one of their balls cut his 
canteen strap and his canteen of water fell to the 
ground. He did not take time to pick it up. but 
with the balls singing past him, he made fine time to 
the trenches. 

In June, while the brigade was in the trenches at 
Cold Harbor, I was sent for by Greneral Hagood, 
and on reporting to him he said: "Sergeant Izlar, 
I sent for you to offer you promotion, and if you will 

accept the captainc}^ of company. I will have 

you commissioned as soon as possible.'' Major 
Glover and Lieutenant Moffett were both present 
and urged me to accept this very flattering offer. 
Being taken entirely by surprise, having no previous 
intimation of a proposition of this nature placed 
before me, I said: ''General, I feel highly compli- 
mented and flattered by your interest in me, and your 
appreciation of me as a soldier; your offer greatly 
appeals to my wishes and vanit3\ but there are 
private reasons which force me reluctantly to 
decline." It was a hard thing indeed for me to turn 
my back on a captain's commission when the goal 
of my military ambition was to wear stars on my 



^r:..*'^. -.» 




J. HILLIARD HOOK 

Sergeant Edisto Rifles 



Wounded Drewry's Bluff, Va., May 16, 
1864 



Edisto Rifles. 65 

collar. Being a captain the prize was only one step 
higher. I stated my reasons for declining, to which 
all three seemed to give consideration. When it was 
too late, I regretted my hasty action, and will always 
do so. 

Private Lewis F. Rush was killed in June while 
the Edisto Rifles was in the trenches at Cold Harbor. 

General Grant kept moving his army further 
south, and finally crossed the Appomattox River and 
threatened Petersburg. Hagood's brigade was the 
first Confederate troops to reach there and confront 
him, arriving on the 15th day of June about sun- 
down. The enemy had just captured a portion of 
the outer line of defences of the city, next to the 
Appomattox River and the troops that had occupied 
the works at this point were falling back in disorder. 
The brigade was hurried forward on the City Point 
road and on reaching the field General Hagood 
promptly established a new line to cover that part 
of the defences which had been captured by the 
enemy. This new line was held till the 18th, when 
the troops were withdrawn tt) a line nearer the city, 
which had been previously prepared, and which was 
held by the Confederate troops till Petersburg and 
Richmond were evacuated. 

Sylvanus P. Hall of the Edisto Rifles was killed 
on the skirmish line on the 16th, the day after the 
brigade reached Petersburg. His body fell into the 
hands of the enemy. Hagood's Brigade remained 
in the trenches here sixty-three days without relief. 



5— E. R. 



66 Edisto Eifles. 

The Federal attacking force on the 15th was com- 
manded by General W. F. Smith. With the number 
of men he had under him, he could have easily cap- 
tured Petersburg, if he had been aggressive and per- 
sistent in his movements. Hagood's Brigade con- 
stituted principally the only troops in his front, after 
Colonel Tabb's regiment of Wise's brigade had been 
driven in, and not one-fourth of the line of earth- 
works built to protect the city was manned at that 
time. General Grant says Smith had with him 1,500 
infantry, four batteries of artillery, besides cavalry. 
He also had two divisions of Hancock's corps in easy 
supporting distance. With this force to make the 
attack and the exceedingly small force to oppose him, 
he made a ridiculous fiasco. 

This was the second time Hagood's brigade saved 
Petersburg from capture by the Union army, and 
on both occasions General W. F. Smith was in com- 
mand of the attacking forces. The first time was at 
Walthall Junction, when the disparity in numbers 
was even greater than on the 15th of June. A skill- 
ful general or one of ordinary dash and sagacity 
could have gone into the city on the heels of the few 
retreating Confederate soldiers that were driven 
from the works. I suppose, however, that Grant's 
army had been handled so roughly, and beaten so 
badly in every engagement with the Southern troops 
after crossing the Rapidan, that General Smith 
lacked confidence in his men, and therefore could not 
depend upon them in an emergency; the experience 
they had met with in recent conflicts with Lee's army 



Edisto Rifles. 67 

had to a great extent destroyed the morale of Grant's 
army. In his Wilderness campaign of 1864, in the 
short space of forty-five days General Grant lost 
more men than General Lee had in the Army of 
Northern Virginia. This is remarkable, but is true 
as the records will show. On June the 2nd, 1864, 
General Grant's army numbered 141,160 men when 
he crossed the Rapidan,* while General Lee had in 
his immediate command 30,000. This does not 
include the garrison around Richmond or troops in 
the valley. All told he had about 4,000 men in a 
forty-mile line for defense of Richmond and Peters- 
burg. Grant's aggregate loss after crossing the Rap- 
idan the 4th day of May up to the 18th day of June 
was 65,000. In the meantime he had received rein- 
forcements to the number of 55,000. To meet this 
grand army. General Lee could only bring to the 
front 53,000 men. 

William Swinton, in his Campaigns of the Army 
of the Potomac^ gives figures of Grant's losses at 
this time, which about agree with those stated above. 

General Grant is rated as a great military com- 



♦Secretary Stanton, in his report May 1st, 1864, makes ttie avail- 
able force for duty as follows : 

Department of Washington 42,124 

Army of Potomac 120.380 

Department of Virginia and North Carolina 59.139 

Department of West Virginia 30,782 

Middle Department 5.627 

Ninth Army Corps 20,780 

So it will be seen, that besides his army of 141,160 men. Grant 
had a reserve on which he could draw of 137,672 men. 

Add to General Lee's force all the troops under General Beaure- 
gard and all reinforcements secured by General Lee during the cam- 
paign and still Grant outnumbered Lee at least four to one. 



68 Edisto Rifles. 

mander, and justly so; nevertheless he was check- 
mated, beaten and foiled in every movement by his 
matchless opponent Robert E. Lee, with about one- 
third the number of men and resources. General 
Grant was patient, tenacious, aggressive, persistent 
and counted not the cost in lives to attain his object. 
General Lee could not often afford to be aggressive, 
but was vigilant, alert, active, quick to discern the 
movements and intentions of his adversary and 
prompt in action to meet and foil them. It is pretty 
well conceded in this day and time that General 
Grant was entirely outclassed by General Lee as a 
military commander. General Wolseley of England, 
the highest military authority of Europe, said that 
"Lee was the greatest general who ever spoke the 
English language." In my opinion, he might not 
have confined himself to the English tongue, and yet 
have made a truthful assertion. In speaking of this 
great captain, the Hon. Ben Hill of Georgia said: 
"He was Caesar without his tyranny ; Napoleon with- 
out his selfishness, and Washington without his 
reward. He was as gentle as a woman in life, pure 
and modest as a virgin in thought, watchful as a 
Roman vestal in duty, submissive to law as Socrates, 
and grand in battle as Achilles!" 

The Twenty-fifth Regiment of Hagood's brigade 
occupied the trenches with the Petersburg race track 
immediately in front, with the left near the City 
Point road ; the left regiment of the brigade resting 
on the Appomattox River. General Colquitt's 
brigade of Georgia volunteers joined the Twenty- 



Edisto Kifles. 69 

fifth on the right and faced Hare's Hill. We 
remained in this position for more than two months. 
The lines here were very near together, and the duty 
was arduous and dangerous. The approach to the 
works was through covered ways, and all communi- 
cation with the city and rear was done through these 
covered ways. It was dangerous to expose any part 
of yourself for a moment. Firing was incessant 
night and day. General Hagood's headquarters were 
near the trenches and in rear of the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment. He would frequently come down the line 
and mingle with the men. On one of these occasions, 
while in conversation I asked him if he ever felt any 
fear when going into battle. I shall never forget his 
reply, which was this: "Izlar, I consider a man 
brave who, knowing and feeling the danger, goes for- 
ward regardless of consequences. Any man who says 
he feels no fear in going into a battle is either a d — n 
fool or a d — n liar." Knowing the feelings that came 
over me when waiting for the command to move 
forward on the enemy, I felt great comfort in the 
general's reply. 

At daybreak on the morning of the 24th an attempt 
was made to break the Yankee line next to the Appo- 
mattox River by the regiments of Hagood's brigade 
opposite that position; these regiments were on the 
extreme left of the brigade. The assault was only 
partially successful, owing to the failure of the 
troops, under General Anderson, who were to support 
the attacking column to be on time. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Nelson, of the Seventh Battalion, with sev- 



70 Edisto Eifles. 

eral hundred picked men led the attack, supported 
by the remainder of the Eleventh and Twenty-first 
regiments, about 600 men. He was killed in the 
charge. The idea was to break the enemy's line 
where it touched the Appomattox River and double 
it back towards Hare's Hill. Should the attack prove 
successful on the left, it was to become general all 
along the line. When arrangements were being made 
for this movement, I was placed in command of 
Company "H" of the Twenty-fifth Regiment and 
given these instructions by General Hagood : "^^Hien 
the order is given cross over the breastworks and 
lead your company direct to the battery of the enemy 
you see in your front and capture it." No one could 
possibly misunderstand an order as explicit as that. 
Some one has said, "There is something exhilarating 
and highly exciting to stand and look at a grand and 
successful charge ; nothing on this green earth is half 
so grand as the sight of soldiers moving into action. 
A cavalry charge is superb, artillery dashing into the 
field carries you away, while the deadly infantry 
moving into the jaws of death causes you to hold your 
breath in admiration." Even to be one of the num- 
ber engaged, we sometimes feel a careless, reckless 
indifference, amidst the sulphurous smoke and lurid 
flash of bursting shells ; but to stand up and receive 
cold-blooded orders to charge a ten-gun battery, and 
only awaiting the signal to do it, gets dead on your 
nerves and no mistake. Having failed to break the 
Federal lines, the general assault was not ordered. 
The enemy's rifle pits were captured, however, by the 



Edisto Rifles. T"! 

charge of Lieutenant- Colonel Nelson, and held all 
day, showing conclusively that the Yankees lacked 
the nerve to make a counter charge. The brigade lost 
in this action 25 killed, 73 wounded and 208 missing. 
(General Hagood's report.) 

A few days after this, the pickets in front of the 
Twenty-fifth Regiment were driven in by the enemy. 
A detail was made consisting of about fifty men and 
placed under command of Captain McKerall and 
myself for the purpose of driving back the Yankees 
and reestablishing the line. We deployed our men 
just outside the entrenchment and advanced cau- 
tiously. We soon struck the enemy and a brisk and 
stubborn skirmish ensued for about fifteen minutes, 
when we succeeded in driving them from their 
advanced position, recaptured our line of pits, and 
reestablished our line somewhat in advance of the old 
line. Especially was this the case next to the City 
Point Road. This threw our line on one side of the 
road a little in advance of the enemy's on the other, 
making a trap into which several officers of the 
Yankee picket were caught before they made the 
discovery. The same night we drove them out of the 
pits they had previously captured from our troops, 
and established the new line, the inspecting officer of 
the Yankee pickets walked into this trap and was 
captured by William Taylor, a member of the Edisto 
Rifles, who was posted on that part of the line next to 
the City Point Road, and was taken back at once to 
General Hagood's headquarters. When Taylor 
returned to the picket line, he came to me and told me 



72 Edisto Rifles. 

of the capture of this officer, and also said to me that 
his prisoner wore a beautiful sword and belt which 
was at General Hagood's headquarters and he wanted 
me to have it. If Taylor had expressed this wish to 
the general, I feel sure he would have complied with 
the request, but next morning Captain McKerall 
reported to headquarters before I did, and the sword 
and belt were turned over to him, much to my disap- 
pointment. By way of compromise Captain 
McKerall gave me his, which was a very good one, 
but nothing to compare to the other. 

From the ceaseless firing kept up night and day the 
guns would often become so foul that in ramming 
a ball home the ramrod would become fast and had 
to be fired along with the charge. They made a 
peculiar weird sound when passing through the air, 
almost uncanny enough to give one a nervous chill. 
I never heard of any one being hit by one of them. 

I asked Sergeant Shoemaker one day how he liked 
the life in the trenches. He said, "He would not mind 
it if the damned Yankees did not shoot so careless; 
they would as soon hit you in the face as anywhere 
else." 

The enemy made several attempts to break 
through the Confederate lines at different times. 
One of these assaults was made on the 18th 
day of June from Hare's Hill on Colquitt's 
salient, which was immediately in front of the hill. 
This salient was occupied by Colquitt's brigade of 
Georgians, who joined the Twenty-fifth Regiment on 
the right. The weather had been dry for some time, 




SERGEANT BENJ. P. IZLAR 

Edisto Rifles 



Wounded Di-ewry's Bluff. Va.. May 16, 
1864. Wounded Weldon Railroad, Va., 
Aug. 21, 1864. Captured Fort Fisher, 
N. C, Jan. 15, 1865 



Edisto Rifles. 73 

and from the clouds of dust that rose from behind 
the hill it was evident that Grant was massing his 
troops for an attack at this point on our lines, and 
everything was in readiness when the time came. 
They made the charge in three lines of battle. As 
they came down the hill it was really a magnificent 
sight as viewed from the position where I was stand- 
ing. The Twenty-fifth Regiment was quite near 
enough to pour a galling fire in their right flank with 
telling effect. When the Confederates opened fire 
upon them a few turned and fled; the nearer they 
approached our lines the more rapid and deadly 
grew the firing, and when their column had 
descended about half way the slope of the hill, it 
appeared to be about equally divided; as many in 
retreat as there were in the advance. Soon after this 
the whole attacking force turned and fled wildly up 
the hill in hopeless panic and confusion, hastened by 
a continuous stream of lead and iron from the Con- 
federate line. The retreat lost much of the imposing 
grandeur of the advance, but to those witnessing it, 
it appeared far more pleasing, if not so spectacular. 
Hundreds of them were left dead on the slope of the 
hill. 

I passed down the slope of Hare's Hill, over which 
this charge was made, a few months ago (1908) and 
saw there a granite monument erected by the sur- 
vivors of the First Maine heavy artillery which bears 
this inscription: 



74 Edisto Rifles. 

"Maine 

First Heavy Artillery. 

In Memory of 

604 Brave Members, Who Fell 

Charging Here 

June 18th, 1864." 

The following is an account of that day's charge 
written by a Union soldier who was one of the sur- 
vivors. His narration conforms in most every par- 
ticular to my recollection of the events of that dis- 
astrous day to the Federal army : 

"CARNAGE IN FIRST MAINE HEAVY 
ARTILLERY. 

"Its Fate in Front of Petersburg, Va., June 
18, 1864. 

"^y Gapt. G. L. Kilmer^ Military Editor American 
Press Association. 

"Utterly hopeless was the gallant charge of the 
First Maine Heavy Artillery at Petersburg June 18, 
1864. The action lasted but ten minutes; the regi- 
ment went in alone, and lost more men than any 
war. The circumstances were peculiar. The First 
Maine belonged to Hancock's Corps, that had borne 
the brunt of the hard fighting of the previous six 
weeks in Grant's Wilderness campaign, including the 
battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold 
Harbor, and had lost in these conflicts over thirteen 
thousand killed and wounded out of a total of thirty- 



Edisto Rifles. 75 

six thousand engaged. At Petersburg on the 16th 
and 17th of June the corps lost heavily, and on the 
18th was ordered to push forward where the Con- 
federates had, as it transpired, planted their 'last 
ditch.' 

"The point where the First Maine charged was a 
salient built by General Colquitt's troops and known 
as 'Colquitt's salient.' It was a bare ridge called 
Hare's Hill, and was in front of the site of the Hare 
house, where the Union Fort Stedman afterwards 
stood. Several attempts had already been made by 
these troops to carry the salient; but although 
repeated trials and failures had been noted at army 
headquarters, word came to General Gershom Mott 
to try again with his Third Division. Mott pro- 
tested to his superior. General Birney, then com- 
manding in Hancock's stead, that it was sheer mur- 
der, a repetition of the slaughter of Cold Harbor. 
'My orders to you are to assault,' said Birney. 

" 'I kncAv,' said Mott afterwards, 'that it was use- 
less to expect suicide en masse from my old troops 
who had seen the wolf, had felt his teeth, and bore 
the scars. All I could hope was that a heavy artil- 
lery regiment, the First Maine, innocent of the 
danger it would incur, would lead off with a dash 
and carry the works with a rush.' 

"The First Maine at the time of the order lay some 
distance back from the scene of the charge, and the 
men learned that they were to go in where other 
troops had failed. Every man on extra duty was 
called on to handle a musket, and the total roster, as 



76 Edisto Rifles. 

I have it from Major Fred C. Low, who was a lieu- 
tenant in Company B, was eight hundred and thirty- 
two men. The regiment was formed in three bat- 
talions of four companies each, each battalion led 
by a major, and had what is called a battalion front 
— that is, there were three lines of two ranks each, 
one line leading and the others following succes- 
sively, each line composed of a battalion. The First 
was in McAllister's Brigade, and several other regi- 
ments of the brigade were formed behind it in the 
same order. On each side of McAllister's Brigade 
was another brigade, formed in the same order, so 
that the force under Mott was three columns of a 
brigade each, the First Maine being at the head of 
the central column. 

"The key to the Confederate line lay in front of 
the First Maine, about five hundred yards distant. 
The intervening space was an open field, slightly 
rising toward the enemy. The Confederate batteries 
on both sides of Colquitt's salient and the infantry 
as well could rake the ground over which the column 
was to charge. General McAllister was at the time 
temporarily commanding another brigade, and on 
attempting an assault with this command over the 
very ground where the First Maine was to lead his 
men 'fell like forest leaves under a hailstorm,' and 
he gave it up. When he learned what was on foot 
with his own brigade, he said : 'God help them. They 
cannot advance on those works; they cannot live. 
The enfilade fire will cut them down.' 



Edisto Rifles. 77 

"In the full knowledge of all this, all excepting the 
fact that they were to go forward alone and that the 
regiments behind and on each side were not to move 
one foot until the forlorn hope had broken through 
the enemy's line, the Maine boys made ready for the 
terrible work. Major Low says : 'When the men saw 
what was expected of them, knapsacks were taken 
off and thrown into a pile and bayonets fixed. Orders 
were to remove the caps from the muskets and rely 
entirely upon the bayonet. The men's faces had 
grown very serious. We knew that very many of us 
were to die. Men turned to their comrades bidding 
each other good-bye, and with tears trickling down 
their cheeks dictated messages to wives, fathers, 
mothers, sisters, and sweethearts in case they should 
be among the slain and their comrades survive. I 
myself received a number of such messages.' 

"Upon receipt of the Avord 'forward!' the Maine 
men sprang at double-quick, and the moment the first 
battalion line appeared above the embankment wh^re 
the column formed the slaughter began. 'Men were 
shot dead within the first five feet,' says Captain 
F. A. Cummings, a survivor. 'The crash of two 
thousand muskets rent the air as a long line of flame 
leaped from the works in our front, and the well- 
known yell of the Army of Northern Virginia 
mingled with the roar of the Rebel batteries on our 
right and left as their canister followed the musket 
balls of the infantry and tore enormous gaps in our 
ranks. The First Battalion melted away before this 
fire and lay in a heap, officers and men, except now 



78 Edisto Rifles. 

and then a scattering one who had miraculously 
escaped. Before the Second or Third Battalion 
reached its place the regimental formation had been 
almost obliterated, and two-thirds of the First Maine 
lay stricken upon the field. Still without firing a 
gun, but in blind obedience to orders, the remnant 
struggled on toward that pitiless line of fire that 
never once ceased or slackened. The reader will 
understand that regiment was alone.' 

"Major Low thinks that some of the men went 
within fifty yards of the enemy's works, but could 
not attain the barrier before them. They submitted 
like heroes to the tempest of canister balls and bul- 
lets, and under close fire covered the ground with 
their dead and wounded. The wave of heroes was 
shattered against that rampart of earth and blown to 
pieces by that whirlwind of death." 

Not a great while after this I was detailed and 
placed in command of the provost guard of Hagood's 
Brigade. The guard was stationed between the 
trenches and the City of Petersburg at the Iron 
Bridge of the Norfolk Railroad, and was composed 
of details from different commands of the brigade. 
Corporal William Paulling and Private Henry 
Bailey of the Edisto Rifles were among those from 
the Twenty-fifth Regiment. Bailey was not an extra 
fine soldier, but was a very good cook; therefore I 
had him to do my cooking. He wanted to demur at 
this arrangement, but when I told him he would 
either do my cooking or I would send him back to 



Edisto Rifles. 79 

the trenches, it did not take him a great while to 
decide and ask me very politely for a match. 

Near the bridge was a hill of considerable eleva- 
tion, and having a little leisure one bright sunny 
morning, I walked up on top of this hill, for the pur- 
pose of getting a good view of the forts and lines of 
the enemy, which were distant some five or six hun- 
dred yards. While leisurely making my observa- 
tions, and having no thought of danger, I saw a 
small bluish gray puff of smoke suddenly rise from 
the Union lines and a moment or two later a ball 
from the rifle of one of their sharpshooters struck 
the ground about ten feet from me. As I did not feel 
exactly in the humor of posing as a target for a 
Yankee behind a telescopic rifle, I did not tarry long 
enough for a second shot. Anyway, I felt satisfied 
I had stayed quite long enough to gain some very 
valuable information. 

While on duty here on the morning of the 30th day 
of July a mine was sprung under a battery by the 
Yankees, occupied by four pieces of Pegram's Artil- 
lery and a portion of the Seventeenth Regiment of 
South Carolina infantry. Colonel McMaster. I dis- 
tinctly heard the explosion, and saw evidences of the 
great upheaval from where I was with the guard. 
This place is now known as the "Crater," and is open 
to visitors at 25 cents admission each. General Grant 
greatly censured his subordinates for the great dis- 
aster that met them here. Two of his generals who 
should have been at the front with their commands 
were found in a bomb-proof in the rear, making a 



80 Edisto Rifles. 

deadly assault on a bottle of rum. (Ferrero and 
Ledlie. See War of Rebellion, Series 1, Vol. XL., 
page 119.) 

About two months after the charge at Hare's Hill, 
the Weldon Railroad was captured by Grant's Army 
about four miles below Petersburg at the Yellow 
Tavern. Hagood's Brigade was withdrawn from the 
lines, and with other troops was sent there to attempt 
a recapture. On reaching the ground General 
Hagood was ordered by General Mahone, who 
seemed to have charge of the movement, to make the 
attack at once, representing to Hagood that the 
enemy were not entrenched, and that he would strike 
their flank. This proved to be a fatal error. Hagood 
not only struck them square in front, but massed and 
behind entrenchments. The enemy could easily see 
the movements of our troops, and had made their dis- 
positions accordingly, rendering a successful assault 
by the Confederates practically impossible ; knowing 
beforehand precisely at what point the attack would 
be made. Besides the heavy lines of battle in front, 
which proved to be Warren's Army Corps, they sent 
out flanking columns, and soon after the commence- 
ment of the advance of Hagood's Brigade it became 
almost surrounded, the enemy being in front and on 
both flanks. 

Hagood went into the fight without support, and 
at this time his brigade had been reduced since reach- 
ing Virginia by killed, wounded and other causes 
from 2,300 men to 743, which was the number he 
took into the fight on this memorable Sunday, the 




roKl'OKAL TIIKODORE KOIIX 

Kdisto Rifles 



Wounded Drowry's P.liiff. Va.. May 16, 
1864 



Edisto Kifles. 81 

21st day of August, 1864. Of these only two hundred 
and seventy -three came out. I have never met but 
one man of the brigade who said he was captured on 
that occasion ; however, a few others may have been. 

When we were forming preparatory to the charge, 
a cavalry man who had the body of General J. C. C. 
Sanders of Alabama across his horse in front of him, 
passed near where I was standing; he had been killed 
earlier in the day. I noticed as he was being carried 
by that he wore the insignia of a general, and asked 
who the officer was, and in this way learned his name. 
I do not know why this incident should so have 
impressed me, but I still remember very distinctly 
how his features appeared to me as he was borne 
from the field. 

When the brigade in column of fours was moving 
into position for the advance the enemy opened upon 
us with artillery, and a file of four men was killed 
in the company just in front of the Edisto Rifles, 
and all of the troops in rear had to pass over these 
poor fellows, the column being at the double quick; 
all four were killed by one shell. The brigade soon 
changed direction by the left flank and passed 
through a swamp, the trees having been felled by 
the Yankees, forming, as it were, an abatis in front 
of their works. In passing through this, the line 
became very much broken, and when reaching a 
field on the side next to the enemy it became neces- 
sary to halt long enough to reform. Fortunately the 
troops were then in a depression, which somewhat 
protected them from the fire of the enemy. During 

6— E. R. 



82 Edisto Rifles. 

the time the brigade was halted, two of the Edisto 
Riflemen concluded it would be well to protect them- 
selves by getting behind the trunk of a large tree, 
which was lying near them; this was a perfectly 
natural and permissible precaution, but unfortun- 
ately for them this log lay at such an angle to the 
fire of the enemy that their balls were coming from 
either side ; and about the time they thought them- 
selves safely ensconced the balls commenced to patter 
on the side they had chosen, when they promptly 
leaped to the other, and they kept changing from one 
to the other side till the line moved forward ; both of 
them were wounded a few minutes later in the 
charge. 

Under ordinary circumstances their gymnastics 
would have been amusing, but this was no time to 
indulge in hilarity, the harvest season of death was 
on ; the scythe, as it were, was being held aloft on the 
crest of the hill in front, and the reaping was soon to 
begin. 

After the line had been reformed, and about ready 
to advance, I noticed that the Yankees were forming 
on our left flank and I ran up to the line to the right 
to find General Hagood and report this to him. I 
soon met Captain Pat. Maloney, the A. A. G. of 
the brigade, and reported to him the movements 
of the enemy. He told me to hurry back to the 
left, find Captain Gordon, who was in command 
of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, which was on the 
extreme left of the line, and tell him to deploy a 
company facing to the left to protect that flank. I 



Edisto Rifles. 83 

hastened back to find Captain Gordon and deliver 
this message, but before I could reach him the line 
commenced the forward movement, and I joined in 
the advance when I reached my company, knowing 
that it was futile to attempt any new disposition of 
troops at that time. With a deafening yell that 
could be heard above the thunder of cannon, and the 
roar of small arms, the line rushed forward "into 
the jaws of death." "Few, few shall part where 
many meet." I saw Lieutenant Kennerly and Ser- 
geant Ben P. Izlar shot down, both of the Edisto 
Rifles. I ran to my brother, who seemed to have the 
fatality of being wounded in every battle in which 
he was engaged, and found he was severely wounded 
in the shoulder. He soon recovered from the shock 
and I raised him to his feet and told him to make the 
best time possible to the rear. We were then in a 
field of growing corn, about shoulder high, the roAvs 
running straight towards the enemy's line of battle. 
I advised him to take an oblique course across the 
field, knowing that if he kept to one row the risk of 
being killed would be much greater. He lost no time 
in following my advice, and made his retreat in 
safety, but not very leisurely. 

I never saw Captain Maloney again, after leaving 
him to deliver his message to Captain Gordon. When 
I left him he was standing very erect with his arms 
folded across his breast, gazing steadily at the Fed- 
eral troops massed in front. He was killed a few 
minutes later in the charge. I am sure I was one of 
the last to whom he spoke before meeting his death. 



84 Edisto Eifles. 

He was an efficient officer, an educated, refined gen- 
tleman, and an exceptionally fine soldier. Captain 
Henry Sellers was killed here also. He was another 
gallant young officer, whom the cause could ill afford 
to lose. 

When the charging column had reached within 
about thirty paces of the enemy's line, it had been so 
fearfully cut to pieces that it appeared too weak to 
advance further with any hope of success and 
appeared to pause for a few moments. The enemy 
taking in the situation, one of the officers of General 
Cutler's staff, of the Yankee army, Captain Dailey, 
rode out from their line and seized the flag of the 
Eleventh Reo^iment and demanded the surrender of 
the brigade. General Hagood was on the left of the 
line at this time, but seeing the flag in the hands of 
this Federal officer, hastened to him and demanded 
its return. Dailey declined to give it up, and ven- 
tured to remonstrate with General Hagood as to the 
folly of further resistance, calling his attention to 
the fact that his brigade was then virtually sur- 
rounded, and completely covered by the guns of the 
Federal troops. This did not, however, convince 
General Hagood that it was yet time to surrender his 
brigade, and he again in a peremptory manner 
demanded his flag, and again the brave, nervy 
Yankee who held it refused. While this colloquy 
ensued Captain Dailey sat upon his horse holding 
the flag in his hand while General Hagood stood on 
the ground near him, with his left hand extended to 
receive the colors. The battle seemed to halt ; firing 



Edisto Eifles. 85 

had practically ceased on both sides, and both armies 
stood in breathless expectancy awaiting the issue of 
this momentous parley between these two brave, 
determined men. Upon the refusal of Captain Dailey 
on the second demand of General Hagood for the 
return of the flag, he drew his pistol from his belt 
and shot the gallant Federal captain; and as he 
reeled from his horse on one side, Hagood seized the 
bridle and mounted from the other. Dwight Stoney, 
General Hagood's orderly, caught up the flag as it 
fell from Dailey's hand and brought it safely from 
the field. 

As soon as General Hagood was firmly seated in 
the saddle, he waved his hat over his head and called 
to his men to follow him out; which all who could 
promptly proceeded to do, passing over scores of 
their comrades who had fallen in the advance, and 
barely escaping through the line of the enemy which 
was fast closing around them. 

This daring exploit of General Hagood, enacted 
in the very presence of the troops of Warren's Fed- 
eral Army Corps, seemed for the moment to paralyze 
them, and the Confederates had retreated a consider- 
able distance before they were opened upon, from 
both flanks and rear. Many were killed in the retreat. 
General Hagood rode the Dailey horse about two 
hundred yards, when it was killed by a shell from 
one of the enemy's guns. For pure and unadulter- 
ated bravery and nerve, I do not believe this incident 
has been surpassed in any age; not even in the days 
"When Knighthood was in Flower." 



86 Edisto Rifles. 

General Hagood should have promptly received a 
major general's commission in recognition of his 
superb conduct on this occasion. 

The Edisto Rifles lost in killed in this battle : Lieu- 
tenant Samuel N. Kennerly, Privates Jacob Culler, 
Geo. B. Crider, Wm. W. Taylor and Franz J. 
Freisse; wounded, Sergeant B. P. Izlar, Corporal 
Wm. Paulling, Privates Joseph Graves, James P. 
Bruce and J. D. Ott. 

Lieutenant Kennerly was a practicing physician in 
Orangeburg at the opening of the war, and could 
have easily joined the medical corps, but he preferred 
the more active and dangerous position of being on 
the firing line. He was modest, but conscientious 
and brave. 

The brigade lost 41 officers and 426 men out of 59 
officers and 681 men taken into the fight. 

Compared with the celebrated charge of the Light 
Brigade under Lord Cardigan at Balaklava, on the 
25th day of October, 1854, of which it is said, "As an 
exploit, it has never been equalled, even by those 
related in the wildest legends of chivalric romance," 
this charge of Hagood's Brigade does not suffer by 
the comparison, but is as grand and brilliant in every 
respect, as will be seen from the following estimate : 



Edisto Rifles. 87 

The Respective Losses of the Two Commands 

The Light Brigade at Balaklava 

and 

Hagood's South Carolina Brigade, Weldon Railroad, 

Virginia. 

Light Brigade. Men Lost 

4th Light Dragoons 118 79 

8th Hussars 104 66 

11th Hussars 110 85 

13th Light Dragoons 130 66 

7th Lancers 145 110 

Total 607 406 

Hagood's Brigade 

59 officers and 681 men went into action. 
18 officers and 274 men came out unhurt. 
41 officers and 407 men were killed. 
Of the staff, Capt. P. K. Molony, A. A. Genl., killed. 
Of the staff, Lieut. Benj. Martin, aide to the general, 
wounded. 

Recapitulation. 

Engaged Loss 

Light Brigade 607 406 = 201 

Hagood's Brigade.... 740 449 = 291 

The following is an account of the battle furnished 
the Hon. Geo. S. Bernard of Petersburg, Virginia, 
by General Hagood, August 19, 1896, many years 
ago, and published in the "Petersburg Index" 



88 Edisto Eifles. 

August 19, 1896. I suppose it was taken from his 
manuscript Memoirs : 

"In a few minutes after crossing the branch 
swamp, the brigade was formed and the report 
coming at the same time from the skirmishers that 
the enemy was but a short distance ahead of them, 
and only in rifle pits, thus conforming General 
Mahone's statement, Hagood cautioning his men to 
move only at quick step till he himself gave the or- 
ders to charge, moved his brigade forward. He had 
dismounted, and placing himself in front of the cen- 
tre, to steady the men and repress excitement, moved 
backward in front of the line as if on drill. Himself 
halting before reaching the crest of the hill, the line 
passed and he followed with his staff behind the 
right of the Twenty-first Regiment. The Twenty- 
fifth was on the left of the Twenty-first and the other 
three regiments on its right. As soon as the brigade 
became visible ascending the hill a rapid fire was 
opened upon it, to which in reply not a gun was 
fired; but moving forward with arms at right 
shoulder shift; as we approached the line of the 
enemy's pits they broke from them and fled. With 
one accord a battle yell rang out along our line, and 
the men as if by command broke into a double quick 
in pursuit. At the same moment General Hagood 
discovered that the line in front of us had only been 
an entrenched skirmish line, though so heavy as to 
have deceived his skirmishers into the notion that it 
was a line of battle, and that two hundred and fifty 
yards behind was a strongly entrenched line, 




THEODORE KOHN 
Edisto Rifles 



Edisto Rifles. 89 

crowded with men and artillery extending as far 
right and left as he could see, and the five Confeder- 
ate brigades supporting, of which General Mahone 
spoke, being nowhere visible. 

"It also appeared to him that he was moving up 
on a re-entering angle of the enemy's line. In this, 
however, he was particularly mistaken. An exam- 
ination of the field after the war showed the enemy's 
line crossing the railroad from the east at this time, 
bent immediately southward and followed its course 
in a comparatively straight line, at some forty yards 
on the western side. Later in the siege their line 
extended further west. Then recrossing the railroad 
at a point below where we struck it, their line only 
bit out a piece, sufficient if they could hold and per- 
manently entrench, to prevent its further use by us. 

"Immediately to the right of where we struck their 
line, a small bastioned work for field artillery was 
thrust forward, and our line of advance was oblique 
to the enemy's general line and towards its junction 
with the flank of this work. Thus in fact we were 
going into a re-entering angle, made more by the 
vicious direction of our advance than by the actual 
construction of the enemy's works. The flank fire 
from the bastioned work we could not have avoided, 
but from our oblique attack we had also much less 
of a flank fire from the straight line, which was an 
infantry parapet full five feet, with an exterior ditch 
eight or ten feet wide and artillery at intervals. 

"Perceiving at a glance the hopelessness of an 
assault under such circumstances. General Hagood, 



90 Edisto Rifles. 

stopping himself, shouted again and again to the 
command to halt, but the crash and rattle of twelve 
or fifteen pieces of artillery and probably twenty- 
five hundred rifles, which had now opened upon us 
at close range, drowned his voice, and the fury of 
battle was upon his men. Moving forward with the 
steady tramp of double quick, and dressing on the 
colors, these devoted men, intent only on carrying 
the position before them, neither broke their align- 
ment, until it was broken by the irregular impact 
upon their works, nor stopped to fire their guns until 
their rush to obtain the parapet was repelled. 

"When General Hagood saw his men rushing upon 
certain destruction, and his efforts to stop them 
unavailing, he felt that if they w^ere to perish he 
would share their fate, and with Maloney and Martin 
and Orderly Stoney, who were all of his staff that 
were with him (Moffett and Mazyck were further 
back in discharge of their respective duties as 
inspector and ordnance officer), followed the advanc- 
ing line. In fifty yards Lieutenant Martin fell, shot 
through the knee; a few steps further Captain 
Molony fell, shot through the head, and Hagood and 
Stoney only reached the works, the latter shot in 
the shoulder, but not disabled. The Twenty-fifth 
and Twenty-first regiments being on the left, from 
the oblique direction of advance first struck the 
works, and while they struggled to get in the other 
regiments swept on. When they reached the ditch 
there was from seventy-five to one hundred yards 



Edisto Rifles. 91 

interval between the two divisions into which the 
brigade had broken. 

"General Hagood was with Major Wilds, com- 
manding the Twenty-first, who was cheering his men 
to renewed assault (success now being the only hope 
of safety), when looking to the right he saw a Fed- 
eral mounted officer among the men on the left of the 
portion of the brigade to the right with a regimental 
color in his hand. General Hagood called to his men 
to shoot him and fall back in retreat. It was a 
critical moment and demanded instant and decided 
action. Making his way across the intervening space 
as speedily as he could, exposed to a regular fire by 
file from the enemy's line, scarcely thirty yards off, 
and calling to his men to fall back, which they did 
not do, General Hagood approached the officer and 
demanded the colors, and that he should go back 
within his own lines, telling him he was free to do 
so. He commenced to argue the hopelessness of fur- 
ther struggle and pointed out the line in our rear. 
Hagood cut him short and demanded a categorical 
reply, yes or no. Dailey was a man of fine apjjear- 
ance, and wore a long flowing beard. He sat with 
loosened rein upon a noble looking bay, that stood 
with head erect, with flashing eyes and distended 
nostrils, quivering in every limb with excitement, but 
not moving in his tracks. In reply to this abrupt 
demand the rider raised his head proudly and 
decisively answered. No! Upon the word General 
Hagood shot him through the body, and as he reeled 
from his saddle on one side sprung in it from the 



92 Edisto Rifles. 

other, Orderly Stoney seizing the flag from his fall- 
ing hands. There was no thought now of surrender; 
the yell from the brigade following the act ringing 
out above the noise of the battle, told their com- 
mander that they were once more in hand and would 
go wherever ordered, whether to the front or rear. 
Shouting to them to face about, Hagood led them at 
a run against the line in his rear, Stoney holding 
aloft the recaptured flag, which he had torn from its 
staff. This line melted before our charge, but the fire 
was terrific after breaking through it till the shelter 
of the valley of the branch was reached. Upon its 
margin a fragment from a schrapnel shell tore open 
the loins of the horse upon which Hagood rode, and 
struggling as he fell kicked Lieutenant Wm. Taylor 
of the Seventh upon the head, rendering him for the 
time so confused that he had to be led from the field 
by one of his men. 

"A week afterwards, in a conversation in General 
Lee's presence. General A. P. Hill stated to Hagood 
that on the morning of the 21st he was misinformed 
by his scouts as to the position and condition of the 
enemy's works, believing that the point upon which 
Hagood was sent was the left of their line. He also 
added that the haziness of the morning prevented 
his ascertaining his error till Hagood's attack devel- 
oped it. General Mahone, in the same conversation, 
said to Hagood that he shared in the misapprehen- 
sion, but insisted that if the other five brigades had 
attacked with the vigor that Hagood's did we would 
have won. The frankness with which these two dis- 



Edisto Rifles. 93 

tingiiished officers took the blame of the bhmder 
upon themselves greatly relieved General Hagood. 

"Both Generals Lee and Beauregard on the field, 
and the latter next day, sent Hagood word through 
General Hoke, that had it been in his power he would 
have promoted him before leaving the field. He also 
through his adjutant called for a written report of 
the incident of the flag. This was briefly worded. 

"General Beauregard forwarded this report to 
President Davis with the following endorsement: 

" 'Near Petersburg, Virginia, 

" 'Aug. 23rd, 1864. 

" 'Respectfully forwarded through General R. E. 
Lee to his Excellency President Jefferson Davis for 
his information. Such an act of gallantry, as herein 
described, and of devotion to one's flag, reflects the 
highest credit on the officer who performed it, and 
should be held up to the army as worthy of imita- 
tion under similar circumstances. Brigadier General 
Hagood is a brave and meritorious officer, who has 
distinguished himself already at Battery Wagner 
and Drewry's Bluff and participated in the battles 
of Ware Bottom Church, Cold Harbor and Peters- 
burg on 16th and 17th of June last. 

" 'I respectfully recommend him for promotion at 
the earliest opportunity. Attention is respectfully 
called also to General Hagood's recommendation of 
his orderly, J. D. Stoney, for a commission. I feel 
assured he is well deserving of it. 

" 'G. T. Beauregard, 

" 'General.' " 



94 Edisto Kifles. 

Major General G. K. Warren of the Federal Army 
says in his report of this fight : 

"Hagood's Brigade struck a part of our line where 
the troops were in eschelon and they found them- 
selves almost surrounded, and every one thinking 
they had surrendered ceased firing. We buried 211 
of the enemy's dead." * * * 

Colonel Hoffman, commanding a brigade of Fed- 
erals, says : 

"The line of battle emerged from the woods about 
400 yards in our front and moved steadily forward 
through a field of corn to within thirty feet of our 
works when they broke. They suffered very severely 
in killed and wounded from our fire." * * * 

Captain Jas. A. Hughey, commanding the Third 
Delaware Kegiment, says : 

"Shortly after the regiment on our left commenced 
firing we observed a brigade debouching by the left 
flank some thirty yards from the line of our regi- 
ment. We occupied the left, our line refused, form- 
ing an angle of 45 degrees with the rest of the bri- 
gade. As the enemy's right passed our left, we 
opened fire, fairly mowing them down, and the whole 
brigade of rebels, with the exception of perhaps 75 
men, were killed or captured." * * * 

There were no prisoners captured except the 
wounded, says General Hagood in his report. 

Several years after the close of the war, when Gen- 
eral Hagood was governor of South Carolina, Cap- 
tain Dailey wrote him and stated that he was then 
making application to the United States govern- 



Edisto Kifles. 95 

ment for a pension on account of the effects of the 
wound received on the 21st day of August, 1864, 
from General Hagood's pistol shot, and asked him 
if he would sign his petition. This General Hagood 
readily and gladly consented to do, and also endorsed 
on his application: "As brave and gallant man as 
he (Dailey) deserved all the reward and consider- 
ation he could get from his country." He also 
expressed his gratification at hearing from him, and 
his pleasure at knowing that his shot did not prove 
fatal, and that he was still living. General Hagood 
invited him to come down to South Carolina and pay 
him a visit. This invitation Dailey could not accept, 
on account of his physical condition. 

In correspondence I have recently had with Gen- 
eral Edward Bragg* of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who 
commanded a brigade (known as the Iron Brigade) 
in the Federal army on the 21st of August, and knew 
Dailey intimately, he describes him as being very 
brave, but nervous, impulsive and entirely lacking in 
judgment and discretion. This seems to be a very 
correct diagnosis of his character, judging from his 
performance on this day. When I think of this 
noble, magnanimous act of General Hagood, 
extended to his former enemy, I conclude that the 
war is surely over, and I try to harmonize a little 
myself and think I am making fair progress till I 
read of some ignorant fanatic protesting against 
placing General Lee's statue in the Hall of Fame; 



♦Author of the expression, "We love hinj for the enemies he has 
made," in speaking of Grover Cleveland. 



96 Edisto Rifles. 

then I lose all patience and have it all to do over 
again. 

While in the charge I picked up a very handsome 
sword, which I suppose was lost by the commander 
of the Yankee pickets when drivp.n in by our advance. 
I carried it through tl)e fight and brought it out 
with me. ¥,Tien the remnant of the brigade was 
being reorganized at the Flower's house immediately 
after retiring from the field of battle, General 
Hagood, mingling among the men, came up and 
spoke to me. Showing him the sword, I told him 
that it was a trophy I had brought from the battle- 
field. He took i( in his hand and after critically 
looking at it, remarked, "It is indeed a magnificent 
weapon; I would rather have it than a thousand 
picked up on a field where any coward could have 
gone on and gathered," and on handing it back to 
me he said, "Keep it, for it shows you have won it." 
He seemed to be deeply affected by the slaughter of 
his men, and his eyes welled up with tears as he 
moved about among this pitiful remnant of his once 
magnificent brigade. I greatly appreciated this com- 
pliment, coming as it did from General Hagood, and 
suppose, under the circumstances, I can be excused 
for feeling a little proud of myself. General Hagood 
was a dignified man, of rather retiring disposition; 
and while he did not wear his heart on his coat sleeve 
those who knew him best admired him most. He was 
a rigid disciplinarian, but always just. He was quiet 
and unpretentious in camp life, but in battle he was 




kk::^ 



THEODORE KOHX 
Edisto Rifles 



Edisto Eifles. 97 

dashing and superbly brave. My admiration for 
him was unbounded. 

The following extract is taken from a book 
entitled "Michigan in the Civil War," authorized by 
an act of the legislature of that State, and published 
by Adjutant General Robertson: 

"The desperation with which the rebels have con- 
tended for the railroad shows its great importance 
to them. The hardest fighting in our immediate 
front occurred on Sunday, August the 21st. On that 
day the enemy thought to turn our extreme left, and 
in strong force charged with wild and prolonged 
yells. Their line extended some distance beyond the 
left of the Fourth division of our corps. Our 
division, the First, occupied a line of works about 
eighty rods in the rear, and extending one-half mile 
to the left of the Fifth. This disposition of our 
forces the rebels did not discern till too late, and they 
were completely surprised. With the help of the 
artillery we inflicted severe punishment on them. 
Hagood's Brigade, of Hill's Corps, consisting of 
South Carolinians, was completely cut to pieces." 

Lieutenant Ben Martin, aide de camp to General 
Hagood, says in a letter to the writer : 

"General Hagood sent me to General Mahone to 
notify him that the troops were falling back in his 
front and wished to know what he must do. I found 
General Mahone and delivered to him the message. 
General Mahone replied, 'Tell General Hagood to 
come to me.' I delivered General Mahone 's message, 
and returned with General Hagood ; and he notified 

7— E. R. 



98 Edisto Rifles. 

General Mahone of the situation in his front, and the 
probability of the enemy being in heavy force and 
entrenched. General Mahone in a clear and distinct 
voice said : 'My scouts inform me that the enemy 
are not entrenched. Charge them and capture them !' 
I witnessed the conversation between Generals 
Hagood and Mahone, and heard the above order 
given by General Mahone." 

General Mahone was a brave soldier and a hard 
fighter, and usually a successful one, but he slipped 
up painfully on this occasion. He was entirely 
ignorant of the fact that the Fifth Federal Army 
Corps, commanded by General G. K. Warren, was 
massed behind entrenchments in his immediate front. 
He did not know that Hagood would strike the 
enemy squarely in front and not the flank of the 
Yankee forces. This, together with ordering a small 
brigade to attack a greatly superior force well 
entrenched, was an inexcusable blunder and almost 
criminal. 

It is quite a mistaken idea that the Yankees were 
poor soldiers and easily whipped. Any Confederate 
soldier who met them often in battle will testify that 
they were hard and tenacious fighters, especially 
those from the Great North West. The Confederates 
could claim very little credit for holding at bay 
such a mighty host armed with the most improved 
weapons and devices of warfare for four long, dreary 
years, and defeating them so often and disastrously, 
with odds often greatly against them, had the 
Northern army been merely a disorganized mob and 



Edisto Rifles. 99 

rabble. Yes, the Northern army was a fine one, well 
equipped and well officered, with all the resources at 
hand that could be desired for great and aggressive 
warfare; but it had to meet an army of Southern 
troops composed of the grandest soldiers that ever 
marched to martial music, or fought in defense of 
country ! 

Just to think, that the Southern army of six hun- 
dred thousand men, poorly armed and equipped, 
ridiculously clad and meagerly fed, without tents, 
without medicine, without pay, checkmating, 
baffling, repulsing and often humiliatingly and dis- 
astrously defeating the Northern army of 2,778,304* 
menf armed with the most improved engines of war- 
fare, well paid, well fed, abundantly clothed ; backed 
by all the resources of a great nation, for four long, 
dreary years, staggers the credulity of man to con- 
template. As a historic fact, for some time before 
Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated there was 
scarcely more than a skirmish line in the works 
around these cities, under the Confederate com- 
mander, to oppose the Army of the Potomac under 
Grant, of about one hundred and fifty thousand men. 

In a letter to General Early shortly after the close 
of the war. General Robert E. Lee wrote: "It will 



*0f this mighty army, let it be the everlasting pride of South 
Carolina, she did not contribute a single soldier. 

fSome historians place the number of men in the Northern Army 
as high as 2,865,028, which may be nearer the correct figures. The 
States of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee 
and the remainder of the Southern States furnished the Yankees 
with over 300,000 soldiers, which was half as many as the South 
ever placed in the field during the war. — W. C. Chase, Story of 
Stonewall Jackson. 



100 Edisto Rifles. 

be difficult to get the world to understand the odds 
against which we fought." From the number draw- 
ing pensions from the United States government 
today, fifty years since the close of hostilities, there 
might have been a million more soldiers in the Union 
Army than given in the figures named above. 

While in conversation with a Union soldier who 
had served in the Northern army and now a resi- 
dent of Virginia, I asked him what he thought would 
have been the result, if the case had been reversed, 
i. e., if Lee had been besieging Richmond and Peters- 
burg with an army equal to the one Grant had under 
him, and Grant defending these cities with no 
greater force than that which Lee had for that pur- 
pose. He replied without a moment's hesitation: 
"General Lee would have captured both places in less 
than a month." The North had the numbers and 
resources, the South had the incentive to make men 
fight and the generals to command. There is no 
nation on earth that has ever produced four con- 
temporaneous generals who could compare with that 
beau ideal Nathan Bedford Forest, the invincible 
Stonewall Jackson, the superb Joseph E. Johnston, 
or the world's greatest captain, Robert Edward Lee. 

On the Northern side Grant possessed great ability 
as a commander, but McClellan was by far his supe- 
rior. Sherman could not be mentioned in compar- 
ison with either of them. Most any other general in 
the Union army could have made his march to the 
sea after General Joe Johnson was relieved from the 
command of the Confederate forces. McClellan's 



EdISTO illFLES. 101 

retreat during the seven days fight was masterly. He 
exhibited wonderful ability under very trying cir- 
cumstances, which stamped him as a great general. 

In the engagement on the Weldon Railroad on 
August the 21st, Captain Gordon, who was in com- 
mand of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, was killed. 
What remained of the Edisto Rifles and the remnant 
of two other companies were consolidated and placed 
under my command, one of the companies being 
Company "B", Washington Light Infantry, of 
Charleston. 

The brigade returned to the trenches around 
Petersburg, but not at the same position it had been 
before, and remained there only a short while when 
it was sent to Dunlop's farm, a beautiful private 
home on the banks of Swift Creek, near Petersburg, 
to recuperate and recruit. 

This place was owned by a wealthy Englishman, 
who had adorned and beautified this naturally lovely 
spot in the most lavish manner. He had erected an 
elegant mansion on an eminence which commanded a 
fine view of this picturesque creek and the surround- 
ing plains. Here were grassy slopes and sunny hill- 
sides, deep ravines spanned by artistic bridges of 
cedar, cool shady retreats, where had been erected 
rustic summer houses, which invited rest and repose ; 
winding paths along the wooded banks of the rip- 
pling stream, every turn disclosing new attractions ; 
springs of cool, crystal water bursting into foun- 
tains ; it was indeed an ideal place, and seemed like 



102 Edisto Rifles. 

fairyland or paradise to a weary, weather-beaten 
soldier. Revenons a nos moutons. 

We enjoyed this rest but a short time, however, 
when the brigade was ordered to Fort Harrison, 
below Richmond, to reinforce the troops occupying 
the lines there and assist in repelling a threatened 
attack by the Yankees at that point. We crossed the 
James River on pontoon bridges near Drewry's Bluff 
and after participating in the assault of Fort Har- 
rison the brigade manned the trenches on the En- 
roughty (pronounced Darby) Town Road. On the 
7th day of October a heavy reconnoisance was made 
in front of our position, and during the skirmish 
with the enemy, Privates Jefferson Stokes and John 
M. O'Cain of the Edisto Rifles were wounded, the 
former quite seriously in the shoulder, from the 
bursting of a shell from a Yankee battery. I had 
again been detailed for provost duty, and was in 
command of the guard at this time. Several prison- 
ers were captured in the advance and turned over 
to me. 

When the Confederate troops were withdrawn 
from between the guard and the enemy (which was 
done by the right flank), I was not notified of the 
movement and consequently was ignorant of what 
had been done. The first intimation and warning of 
danger was given me by a cavalryman, who as he 
hurriedly rode by called out that the enemy were fast 
advancing and we would be captured if we delayed 
a moment longer in getting away. Among the pris- 
oners in my charge was a sergeant of cavalry, who 



Edisto Kifles. 103 

was somewhat a dandy in appearance and his man- 
ner was quite hif alutin and resentful. He, of course, 
heard what was said to me about the approaching 
enemy, and acting on this information was disposed 
to be very laggard in his movements, and refused to 
move on in as much haste as the exigency of the case 
required. After remonstrance and threats failed to 
make him accelerate his gait, and still persisting in 
his sullen and mulish demeanor, I became irritated 
and he and I held a private seance in the middle of 
the road, where I performed a few stunts for his 
benefit on the vis a tergo line ; after which the most 
nimble-footed sprinter on the guard could barely 
keep pace with him. (I think a No. 6 iron-clad army 
shoe would weigh about one pound and a quarter.) 
Our picket line one day while the brigade was on 
the Darbytown lines was attacked and driven in by 
the Yankees. The pickets on front of the Twenty- 
fifth Kegiment were commanded by a lieutenant. 
General Hagood had a new detail made at once, with 
Sergeant Ira T. Shoemaker of the Edisto Rifles in 
command, who promptly drove the Yankees back, 
reestablished the line and held it till next morning 
when regularly relieved. Sergeant Shoemaker was a 
New Yorker, from Herkimer county. He came down 
South several years before the war and was teaching 
in Orangeburg when the State seceded, and did not 
hesitate as to what he should do, but promptly 
aligned himself with those who fought under the 
Starry Cross, and unswervingly held on to the bitter 
end. Like Jim Bludsoe: 



104 Edisto Kifles. 

"He seen his duty a dead sure thing, 
And went for it thar and then." 

He fulfilled all the requirements of a model Con- 
federate soldier. After the close of the war he rep- 
resented Orangeburg County in the legislature sev- 
eral years before his death. 

While here I was sent to Petersburg with a detail 
for three members of Hoke's Division who had been 
tried by a court-martial and condemned to death. 
On my guard detail was a young North Carolinian 
by the name of Hobbs. We reached Petersburg late 
in the afternoon, and I decided to camp on Boiling's 
Hill, near the city, for the night and get my pris- 
oners early next morning. We built a good fire near 
a spring of water, ate our hard tack and lay down 
for our night's rest. It was very cold and snowing 
fast. Hobbs took off his shoes and placed them 
under his head as a pillow. When he awoke next 
morning some one had stolen his shoes. "When he 
made the discovery his language was more forcible 
than elegant. In fact, he got so hot that he was not 
aware that the snow was six inches deep and he was 
shoeless. I made no effort to stop him, thinking it 
was warranted by the circumstances and provocation. 
Wlien we reached Richmond on our return trip I 
succeeded in getting him another pair, after he had 




DAVID DANTZLKR 
Edisto Rifles 

Captured Weldon Railroad, Aug. 21, 
1864. Died Elmira, N. Y.. April 1, 1865 



Edisto Kifles. 105 

trudged all day through the snow, which was a 
pretty severe ordeal, though he was a "Tar Heel."* 

The prisoners were brought back in safety and 
taken in charge by the provost guard. A few days 
later they were executed in the presence of the 
brigade, which was temporarily withdrawn from 
the trenches and formed in line to witness the spec- 
tacle. Two of them were shot. One, whose name 
was Fulcher, a North Carolinian, was hanged. This 
man deserted from the Confederate Army and 
joined the Yankees. He was afterwards captured, 
wearing the blue uniform and non-commissioned 
officer's chevrons. An army would soon degenerate 
into a mere rabble without discipline, and it requires 
these fearful object lessons as examples to those who 
might be inclined to lightly regard military author- 
ity and law. 

An election was held while occupying the lines 
below Richmond to fill the office of third lieutenant 
of the Edisto Rifles, which had been vacant since 
Lieutenant Elliott was killed at Drewry's Bluff. As 
result of this election Private Joseph Graves became 
third lieutenant of the company. Graves was a Cit- 
adel man, and made a good officer. He had the best 
memory of any man I ever knew. His greatest fault 



*I was very much reminded of the incident (as I remember it) 
when Simon Suggs was caught by his father playing seven up, in 
a fence corner with a negro, fifty cents being the stake, which the 
negro won, about the time the elder Suggs appeared on the scene, 
who in turn proceeded to give both the players a severe thrashing. 
Simon afterwards said he did not mind the loss of the money, as it 
was worth all of fifty cents to see the negro get his licking. I like- 
wise thought Hobb's peroration worth my best efforts to get him 
another pair of shoes. 



106 Edisto Kifles. 

was being too intimate with, and too easily led 
astray, by the seductive John Barleycorn. Lieuten- 
ant Samuel Dibble, who had been in a Northern 
prison since his capture at Secessionville, having 
been exchanged, rejoined the company here. He was 
again captured a few weeks later at Town Creek, 
below Wilmington, North Carolina.* 

The Twenty-fifth Eegiment was now commanded 
by Captain James M. Carson, of Charleston ; he was 
the senior captain of the regiment, a brave but im- 
petuous officer. 

In December, 1864, Fort Fisher and Wilmington, 
North Carolina, being threatened by the Northern 
fleet under Admiral Porter, and a land force under 
General Terry, Hagood's Brigade, with the other 
brigades which composed Hoke's division, were 
withdrawn from the lines in front of Kichmond, 
and hurried by rail to that point. I was given a 
suitable detail of men and sent with the wagon 
trains to guard and protect them in case they were 
attacked while making the overland trip from Rich- 
mond to Wilmington. The first day we crossed the 
James River on pontoon bridges near Drewry's 
Bluff, 23d day of December. It was the coldest day 
I ever felt in my life. We camped that night at 
Swift Creek, about three miles from Petersburg, 
making about twenty miles that day. Another 
detachment from some other command was camp- 



*When Lieutenant Dibble was exchanged he spent a short time 
at his home in Orangeburg before reporting to the command in 
Virginia for duty. While at home he was married. 



Edisto Rifles. 107 

ing here also. The officer in charge came over 
and invited me to take supper with him, which I 
gladly did. (In fact such invitations were very, 
very rarely declined by a soldier in 1864.) Before 
parting company for the night we reviewed all the 
campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia, and 
interviewed his canteen repeatedly. You remember 
I said it was a fearfully cold day. I do not recollect 
how long it took us to make this overland trip with 
the wagon trains ; but when we reached Wilmington, 
the attack on Fort Fisher had commenced, and the 
bombardment by the Federal fleet could be distinctly 
heard in the city. The Twenty-fifth Regiment, with 
the Edisto Rifles, Captain James F. Izlar in com- 
mand, was there in the fort. The Twenty-first and 
Twenty-fifth Regiments of Hagood's Brigade dis- 
embarked from a boat which took them down the 
Cape Fear River from Gander Hall Landing, and 
marched across the sand hills, entering the fort and 
reinforced the garrison on the 14th day of January, 
1865. While making this march from the place of 
landing to the fort there were five hundred and 
eighty-three guns from the Yankee fleet playing on 
the fort and the reinforcing column. Though there 
were several thousand other Confederate troops on 
boats lying in the river, these two regiments were 
the only reinforcement that succeeded in entering 
the fort. These two regiments, the Twenty-first and 
Twenty-fifth of Hagood's Brigade, manned the sea 
face of the fort, and repulsed 2,000 sailors and ma- 
rines who assaulted on that most exposed side. This 



108 Edisto Rifles. 

attacking force was driven back after making a gal- 
lant charge, approaching near the fort. In both 
their advance and retreat they suffered severely; 
their blue uniforms, with the white beach as a back- 
ground, showed hundreds of them to have been slain 
by the guns of the garrison. The Federal General 
Terry was in command of a large land force which 
co-operated with the fleet in the attack and capture 
of the fort, and contributed greatly to the success 
of the enterprise. All of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, 
with the Edisto Rifles, not killed in the bombard- 
ment and assault, were captured when the fort fell, 
and sent to Northern prisons, the most of them to 
Elmira, New York. 

Captain Izlar's blanket, which he had slung 
around his shoulder, soldier fashion, after the fight 
contained twenty-seven bullet holes. 

The following members of the Edisto Rifles were 
captured when Fort Fisher fell: 

Captain James F. Izlar, Lieutenant Joseph 
Graves, Sergeant Ben Pou Izlar, Sergeant Ira T. 
Shoemaker, Privates M. Furman Antley, Henry L. 
Bailey, Charles Bailey, David T. Bozard, Wm. E. 
Crawford, David W. Dantzler, Joseph A. Holstein, 
Samuel P. Hook, Adolphus M. Izlar, Laban A. 
Irick, Andrew J. Inabinet, Charles G. Inabinet, 
Luther Myers, Fred C. Myers, David F. Murphy, 
Emanuel Murphy, J. D. Ott, Elmore Ott, William 
C. Rives, J. Lawton Scott, Ben H. Sanders, Jesse 
Sanford, Obediah J. Syphrett. 

Killed, Private Peter Wolf. 



Edisto Rifles. 109 

Sergeant Shoemaker's home was in Elmira, where 
the prison was located, before he came South, and 
his parents and other members of his family were 
living there when he was a prisoner. They endeav- 
ored in every way to induce him to take the oath 
of allegiance to the United States, but this he posi- 
tively refused to do, preferring to stand true to his 
convictions and "live and die in Dixie." 

The defense of Fort Fisher was in no sense a 
parallel to that of Fort Sumter or Wagner. Fort 
Sumter never fell into the hands of the Union troops 
till after the iTth day of February, 1865, when the 
last Southern soldier had leisurely left it. So long 
as a Confederate sentinel stood guard over the bat- 
tered and crumbling ruins a Yankee soldier was 
never able to enter the sallyport. It required many 
months of strenuous labor, engineering skill and sac- 
rifice of life before Wagner fell into the hands of 
the Northern forces, and a more heroic and desper- 
ate defense is not on record. Why Fort Fisher, 
equally as strong, should have been so easily and 
quickly captured is somewhat inexplicable, even to 
the present day. 

General Whiting, the Commander of Fort Fisher, 
was severely wounded during the bombardment and 
captured with the garrison, taken to Fort Columbus, 
New York, and died there. When he was wounded 
Colonel Lamb succeeded him. He was also wounded, 
and Major Reilley, being the ranking officer in the 
fort, assumed command. From the following ex- 
cerpt taken from General Whiting's report it ap- 



110 Edisto Rifles. 

pears that all three of these officers left the fort be- 
fore it fell. 

General Whiting says : 

"At 9 p. m. the gallant Major Reilley, who had 
fought the fort after the fall of his superiors, re- 
ported the enemy in possession of the sallyport. 
The brave Captain Benthuisen, of the Marines, 
though himself badly wounded, with a squad of his 
men picked up the General and Colonel and endeav- 
ored to make their way to Battery Buchanan, fol- 
lowed by Major Reilley, with the remnant of the 
force." 

If General Whiting meant by the "remnant of the 
force" to convey the idea that all the troops in the 
fort went out with Major Reilley he makes a most 
startling error. A part of Hagood's Brigade was 
certainly in the fort when it was entered through the 
unguarded sallyport by the enemy; and these Con- 
federate troops were still firing from the parapet, 
and defending the sea face heroically, when the 
fort was entered from the land side by General 
Terry's co-operating forces. The time referred to in 
General Whiting's report was 9 o'clock Sunday 
night, the third and last day of the siege. 

The handling of the co-operating Confederate 
force, under General Bragg, was even worse than 
was the defense made by the commanders of the 
fort, and can only be described as hesitating and 
amateurish, totally lacking in anything like general- 



Edisto Kifles. Ill 

ship. If this force had been properly utilized, the 
history of the fall of Fort Fisher would have been 
more creditable to the Confederacy, and the fort 
would never have fallen in three days, as was the 
humiliating case. 

Admiral Porter, who commanded the Federal 
fleet, in sending 2,000 sailors and marines, armed 
with pistols and cutlasses, to assault the fort was 
equally as ridiculous as the generalship displayed 
by General Bragg, and only equaled in simplicity 
and foolishness by the idea conceived by Beast But- 
ler, who, on a previous occasion, December 24th, 
1864, made the silly attempt to demolish Fort Fisher 
and annihilate the defenders by exploding the boat 
Louisiana, on which had been loaded 235 tons of 
powder, and which he had anchored about a mile 
from the fort, out in the Atlantic Ocean. He rea- 
soned by the concussion from this explosion the fort 
would be razed to the ground and the garrison 
raised to the skies. We must admit, however, this 
was a very brilliant idea when we think of the ex- 
plosion. 

And so it was, that the Brogdingnagian scheme 
(as he thought) evolved from the brain of this 
Lilliputian general (in success) proved a dead fail- 
ure, and added one more to the long list already 
charged against him. Notwithstanding the poor 
generalship displayed by both Confederates and 
Federals, the enemy managed to stumble into an un- 
defended sallyport, and by chance more than by 
valor thus captured the place. It could not be said 



112 Edisto Rifles. 

that Fort Fisher was impregnable under all cir- 
cumstances; but its capture was impossible by the 
navy alone, and General Bragg had quite a suffi- 
cient force to have blocked the co-operating land 
force under General Terry, and by doing this would 
have prevented this great disaster. 

General Bragg made a fine record in Mexico as 
Captain of Artillery, especially at Buena Vista, but 
it seems as though he entered a class several grades 
in advance of his ability when he was made a Gen- 
eral in the Confederate Army. 

Admiral Porter, in his report of the attack and 
bombardment of the fort by the fleet under his com- 
mand, descends to the plane of common braggart, 
and plays the role of a swashbuckler. He also ac- 
cuses General Butler of prevarication, to put it 
mildly, and Butler, in turn, makes the same accusa- 
tion against the Admiral. Between the two I am 
rather inclined in favor of the Admiral. All that 
constituted B. F. Butler a general was his commis- 
sion from the United States government; as for 
ability he had absolutely none, and his conduct at 
Fort Fisher, ordering all his troops back on his 
transports that had been landed, without making 
any demonstration against the fort or even landing 
himself, and then hastily setting sail for Fortress 
Monroe, flavors of cowardice. In fact his flight was 
so precipitate that he left several hundred of his men 
behind who had to be rescued by small boats from 
the fleet. — "Official Records of Union ^nd Confeder- 
ate Navies, Series I, Vol. II." 




LEWIS W. JENKINS 
Edisto Rifles 



Killed Walthall Junction, Va., May 7, 
1864 



Edisto Rifles. 113 

This was the only fight or skirmish during the 
four years of the war in which the Twenty-fifth reg- 
iment or Edisto Rifles were engaged, in which I was 
not present to take part. Three of my brothers, all 
members of the Edisto Rifles, were captured when 
the fort was taken. From them I received much val- 
uable information bearing on the attack and de- 
fense. This, with the reports of the Confederate 
and Federal officers engaged in the attack and de- 
fense, furnishes abundant material for criticism and 
comment, by anyone not actually present. 

After capturing Fort Fisher the Federals at once 
commenced making preparations to march on Wil- 
mington, North Carolina, and the remainder of Ha- 
good's Brigade was ordered to Fort Anderson, lo- 
cated on the Cape Fear River below Wilmington, 
to meet them. Colonel Charles H. Simonton, who 
had been on detached service as commandant of 
Fort Caswell, North Carolina, for some time, now 
returned and assumed command of the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment. I left the provost guard under Lieuten- 
ant Slade, of Colquitt's Brigade, and reported for 
duty to the regiment. Lieutenant Samuel Dibble 
was now in command of the Edisto Rifles, at least 
what was left of the company. 

The Confederate force being too weak to give bat- 
tle to the large army in front of them, fell back 
from Fort Anderson to Town Creek, and the morn- 
ing after, February the 20th, the Twenty-fifth Regi- 
ment, supported by a section of artillery and a few 
other troops, were left as a rear guard while the 
main force fell back towards Wilimington. I was 

8— E. R. 



114 Edisto Rifles. 

entirely ignorant of these movements till develop- 
ments later in the day revealed this fact to me. Early 
in the morning I was sent out with a detail of about 
thirty men to re-establish a picket line which had 
been driven in by the enemy (at least that was the 
information given me and my instructions were). 
When we reached the designated place, another de- 
tail which had arrived there by a different route, 
and of whose presence we were entirely ignorant, 
fired a volley into us at close range, mistaking us 
for Yankees. Miraculously no one was killed. I 
recognized the officer in command and called to him 
to cease firing, which was promptly done. All of 
my men except Marion Bronson, of the Edisto 
Rifles, and a few others whom I have forgotten, re- 
treated in haste, thinking they were in the midst of 
the enemy. They supposed that I and those who had 
remained with me had been killed by the volley, 
which was quite a natural conclusion. After posting 
those who were with me, I went back to bring the 
main force again to the front. They had deployed 
in line about two hundred yards in rear, posting one 
man in the road. I knew the great danger, under 
the circumstances, of being shot by our own men, 
but there was no alternative. I had to take the 
chances and get them back. I approached them very 
carefully, taking every precaution possible, halting 
frequently to listen, but I was obliged to pass 
through thick undergrowth, and when I stepped 
into the road the man posted there quickly raised his 
rifle and fired at me. We were not more than forty 



Edisto Rifles. 115 

paces apart, but in his nervous state the ball from 
his gun struck the ground about half way between 
us and ricochetted over my head. He was terribly 
agitated when he discovered at whom he had shot. 
Running up to me he seized my hand, and with tears 
in his eyes hysterically laughed for joy at my es- 
cape. I felt really sorry for him, but congratulated 
myself. The men were soon assembled, taken back, 
and a regular skirmish line established. Everything 
being quiet I walked out in front of the line, per- 
haps one hundred yards, in order to learn as much 
as possible of the movements and position of the 
Yankees so that I might keep the troops in rear 
posted. I could plainly see a number of transports 
in the Cape Fear River, and a large number of 
troops disembarking on the bank nearest to where 
we were. I stood there watching them for some 
time, thinking I was in no special danger, believing 
myself fairly w^ll concealed, when the smoke, crack 
of a rifle and striking of minnie ball very near me 
caused me to think it advisable, like poor Jo, to 
"move on, and not know nothink."* 

The enemy soon formed line of battle and with 
skirmishers thrown out well in front, commenced 
the advance movement towards our position. A cour- 
ier was sent back to the commanding officer in rear 
(Colonel Simonton, as I was informed by the courier 
on his return), and gave him all the information I 
had learned as to the movements of the enemy in 
front. Colonel Simonton's instructions, given me 

♦This was the second time that day that I know I was shot at 
individually. 



116 Edisto Rifles. 

through the courier, was to fall back slowly as the 
enemy advanced, keeping him posted, and make the 
best resistance possible with the force I had with 
me till reaching the main line. We skirmished all 
day, till near sunset, when the enemy charged the 
very small force under Colonel Simonton, which 
was drawn up in line of battle, and supported by a 
section of artillery under Lieutenant Rankin, of 
North Carolina. I was then on the skirmish line, 
about two hundred yards to the right of our line of 
battle. The firing ceased so suddenly that I con- 
cluded at once that the Confederates had all been 
captured, which became evident to me after we ap- 
proached near enough to see the Confederates and 
Yankees mingling together. Having satisfied my- 
self that the day was lost, by seeing the officers of 
the Twenty-fifth Regiment quietly talking with the 
Yankees, I halted, and said to those who were with 
me, that I did not propose to surrender without 
making an effort to escape, and all those who would 
follow me I would take back to the turnpike where 
we had left the brigade in the morning, supposing 
I would still find it there. Several of the men de- 
cided to take their chances with me, among whom 
was Corporal J. C. Bozard, of the Edisto Rifles, and 
Eb Shuler, of Sellers' company. After working our 
way through a dense swamp, sometimes waist deep 
in slush and water, we reached the hill on the op- 
posite side in safety, and exactly at the desired 
point, but judge of our consternation when we 
stepped into the turnpike to find ourselves in the 



Edisto Rifles. 117 

midst of a brigade of Yankees, instead of Confeder- 
ates. One of them in a very jollifying manner called 
out: "Hello, Johnnie, how deep have you been in!" 
I tried to hide my mortification and disgust and re- 
plied : "Just so deep," at the same time indicating 
with my hand the height around my waist reached 
by the water. I felt terribly chagrined at this de- 
nouement to my plans, but quiet submission was the 
only alternative. 

All of the prisoners were disarmed and formed in 
line. I fell in with them, still wearing my sword. 
No one had asked me for it, and I certainly did not 
propose to voluntarily hand it over to them. When 
the command to march was given 1 kept in line with 
the others. After marching some distance we came 
to a place where there was a considerable embank- 
ment on either side of the road. Here I drew the 
sword from the scabbard and thrust it into the em- 
bankment nearly up to the hilt and broke it in two ; 
then unhooked the scabbard from the belt, bent it 
double across my knee and dropped it in the road. 
The guard did not appear to see me when doing 
this. Of course I tried to avoid their vigilance. 

I have concluded since that the Yankees mistook 
me for one of their men. The manner in which I. 
was dressed could easily have deceived them. My 
cap was covered with silk oil cloth. I wore a mili- 
tary cloak which covered my coat, and my trousers 
were blue. If it had dawned upon me at this time 
that they were deceived by my dress I am quite sure 
I could have again made my escape and rejoined 



118 Edisto Rifles. 

the command which had fallen back under General 
Hagood, and was then at, or very near, Wilmington. 
The remnant of the Twenty-fifth Regiment and few 
remaining of the Edisto Rifles went through the 
North Carolina campaign, taking part in the battles 
of Bentonville and Kinston. At the surrender of 
Johnston's army at Greensboro the Edisto Rifles 
had four representatives, viz : Corporal Jude Rob- 
inson, Privates John S. C. Tatum, William C. Mere- 
dith and Jefferson Stokes. 

These few men answered the last roll call of this 
gallant company which never failed to do its whole 
duty on all occasions and under all circumstances — 

From first to last they played the game; 

When liberty was the golden stake. 
They lost in all, save only fame. 

But no apologies do they make. 

After the guard had taken us back some distance, 
we passed by a pile of swords lying by the road- 
side, which I readily recognized as those of the 
officers of the Twenty-fifth Regiment; not a great 
distance farther we came to where the Federal Gen- 
eral Cox had bivouacked his army for the night. 
Here we found all the Confederate troops that had 
been captured that afternoon under guard. We were 
put in the ring with them, and spent the night here. 
General Cox seemed to be a gentleman as well as a 
soldier, and did all he could to modify the soreness 
caused by the recent disaster to the Southern Cause. 



Edisto Rifles. 119 

The following members of the Edisto Rifles were 
captured here February 10th, 1865, which is known 
as the fight at Town Creek: 

Lieutenant S. Dibble, Sergeant Wm. V. Izlar, Ser- 
geant L. H. Culler, Corporal J. C. Bozard, Privates 
Marion D. Bronson, David Brown, James H. Arant, 
Laurie T. Izlar, Elliott D. Irick, Murray Robinson. 

All the prisoners w^ere marched down to Fort 
Fisher next morning, February 11th, and embarked 
on the Yankee steamer transport Tonawanda, and 
taken to Point Lookout prison, located at the mouth 
of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. During the 
passage we encountered a severe storm off Cape Hat- 
teras. The sick lay in heaps all over the boat, pro- 
miscuous like, as John Hay puts it, which I think 
is a fine description of this particular instance. 
They appeared perfectly contented, regardless of sur- 
roundings or consequences. If you happened to step 
in the face of one of them in passing along (you 
could scarcely avoid it) he made no demur or sign 
of resentment. His time was too much taken up in 
the terrible throes of mal de mer to pay any atten- 
tion to trifles. I proved to be one of the exempt or 
immune, and could, therefore, look on, but can't say 
I enjoyed the entertainment. 

On reaching Point Lookout we were all searched 
and anything of any value or contraband taken 
from us, and then marched into the stockade. I and 
my brother, Laurie, were assigned to a tent built of 
material obtained from cracker boxes. This tent 
was one of the best, if not the best, in the prison. In 



120 Edisto Eifles. 

it was a good stove, a good supply of army blankets 
and fairly comfortable bunks. These things had 
been left there by prisoners who had previously oc- 
cupied this tent, who had been exchanged or paroled. 
The tent had been built by our predecessors also. 
Nothing of the kind was furnished by the United 
States government. 

Marion Bronson was in this tent with us also. The 
other occupants were Virginians, and a fine set of 
gentlemen they were. We managed to keep fairly 
comfortable, but hunger was always with us. I 
never slept without dreaming of being at a feast, 
and woke up hungry enough to eat a rubber boot, 
stuffed with brass buttons and snuff, or lick a hole 
in the bottom of a frying pan. This lasted for 
about two months, when two things happened which 
greatly improved the situation. I was appointed by 
the commandant of the prison camp to report the 
number of sick in my division every morning, and 
also to make requisition for bread for those who 
were well. I won't say how I did it, but the boys 
in my tent did not suffer for bread after that. I 
also managed to get Marion Bronson a position in 
one of the cook houses, and he kept me well supplied 
with the thick part of the bean soup. I attended 
no more banquets in my dreams. 

Of course, I had to be very clever in manipulating 
the wires. If my modus operandi had been discov- 
ered I might have been decorated with an ankle orna- 
ment, with a chain and ball attachment. I never was 
ambitious in that direction. 



Edisto Rifles. 121 

We were allowed to read the newspapers and buy 
from the sutler, if you had any money. I never 
bought anything! While reading a paper one day 
I saw where a man living in New York City was 
spoken of as being a strong Southern sympathizer, 
and I at once made up my mind to write to him and 
see how sorry he was for me. All letters of this 
kind had to be written on blanks furnished by the 
Provost Marshal. I procured one of these blanks, 
filled it out, asking the gentleman in New York to 
send me such articles of clothing and other gentle- 
man's belongings as I then required to replenish my 
depleted wardrobe. I then went out under guard to 
the office of General Brady, the Provost Marshal, 
and took my letter to him to be approved and for- 
warded to New York. 

After reading it through, and surveying me from 
head to feet, he asked me what relation this man was 
to me. I replied none whatever. He then very 
deliberately tore my letter into pieces, and threw it 
on the floor of his office, remarking at the same 
time: "Letters of this nature could be written to 
near relatives, and furthermore, you are one of the 
best dressed prisoners in the camp, and do not need 
these things." 

All letters written by the prisoners had to be sub- 
mitted to the Provost Marshal, who exercised a strict 
censorship over all correspondence. Considering my 
business with this officer ended for the time being, 
I gave him a perfunctory military salute and walked 
out of office. I was considerably disappointed at the 
result of my interview, but I had gained some valu- 



122 Edisto Rifles. 

able information which I would not forget, and I 
determined as I slowly walked back that I would 
beat that Yankee in the game "If it took all the sum- 
mer." 

After waiting about two weeks, thinking he would 
forget me in that length of time, I procured an- 
other blank letter form through a Yankee ser- 
geant, who seemed to have taken quite a fancy to 
me, and who was by far above the average Northern 
soldier in education, culture and gentlemanly qual- 
ities. This blank I filled out addressed to "My Dear 
Uncle." General Brady said I must have a relative, 
so I decided on an uncle in New York. 

I then donned the most dilapidated suit I could 
find among my tentmates ; the fit was not considered, 
a crownless hat and no shoes completed my dress for 
the occasion. I was positively ashamed of my ap- 
pearance, but the game was interesting to me, and 
I had the determination to win. The situation, how- 
ever, had a humorous phase, and all the while I was 
in the presence of General Brady it was difficult for 
me to keep from laughing at my ridiculous appear- 
ance. Having completed my preparations, I walked 
down to the prison gate, and after stating my busi- 
ness, was passed out, under guard, to the Provost 
Marshal's office. I again presented my letter to 
him, which he read as on the previous occasion, 
asked me no questions, made no comments, handed 
it to his secretary and waved me out. I returned to 
camp to await developments. 



Edisto Rifles. 123 

Near the gate was a large bulletin board, placed 
there by the commandant of the camp, so that when 
anything came for any of the prisoners his name 
was placed thereon, and instructions as to what he 
was to do. In about ten days one of my tentmates 
informed me that my name was on the bulletin 
board, with instructions to call at the express office 
for a package. When I reported at the office the 
agent put me through the following catechism: 
AVhat is your name? Have you written to anyone 
for anything? To whom did you write, and where? 
For what did you write? I enumerated the articles 
for which I had written, and answered all the other 
questions satisfactorily. While he was catechising 
me he held in his hand the letter I had written to 
"My Dear Uncle," to which he referred after asking 
each question. This was one of the rules of the 
prison, that letters of this kind were to be returned 
inside the package sent. He finally said to me that 
all the articles for which I had written had come, 
and I could get everything except the coat ; this be- 
ing black was contraband, and would be held for de- 
livery when I was paroled. As he said this, he 
handed me the package. I hurried back to the tent, 
and all the boys gathered around, while I opened up 
my treasures, which consisted of a full suit, two 
changes of underclothing, socks, shoes and hat. They 
were all of nice material and fit perfectly. I had 
given the sizes of everything in the letter written to 
my uncle. 

One of my tentmates was a Virginian by the name 
of Perkins, who had a friend and neighbor that had 



124 Edisto Rifles. 

been paroled and was on his way home. A day or 
two after he left the prison his name appeared on 
the bulletin board, telling him to report at the ex- 
press office. Upon investigation it was found that 
the home folks had sent him a box of tobacco, and 
it was ready for delivery. A box of tobacco was 
a real bonanza at that time and place. Perkins, 
knowing this, and at the same time knowing his 
friend would be glad for him to have it, personated 
his paroled friend to the prison authorities, and at- 
tempted to have the tobacco delivered to him by the 
express agent. Unfortunately, in some way they 
discovered the ruse, and had Perkins arrested. In 
their endeavor to humiliate him, they made him 
wear a board sign on his back, about three feet 
square, for several weeks, on which was written in 
large letters: 

"This man Perkins conspired with others to steal 
a box of tobacco from the express office." 

The friends of Perkins had great sympathy for 
him. He certainly was a comical looking picture, 
though, as he marched up and down the line under 
guard. Of the two propositions, i. e., whether it 
was more of a crime in Perkins conspiring to steal 
(as they termed it) this box of tobacco, which his 
neighbor and friend would have been glad at his 
success in doing, or they actually stealing it, much 
to the disgust of Perkins' friend, I would unhesitat- 
ingly decide in favor of Perkins. As I have already 



Edisto Rifles. 125 

stated, the prison was located in Maryland on Point 
Lookout, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, 
and from what I could learn of the other prisons, 
was a much better place from a sanitary and hy- 
gienic standpoint than any other Northern prison. 
Water was scarce and rations exceedingly short, but 
the treatment of the prisoners I did not consider 
cruel, or even particularly harsh. The gates on the 
bay side were thrown open in the morning and left 
open all day. Prisoners could go out there at will, 
and bathe in the bay if they felt inclined to do so. 
The sentries were stationed on the stockade, almost 
over you, and the bay was twenty-seven miles across 
to the Virginia shore, so there was not much chance 
to make a successful dash for liberty by the water 
route. 

The most humiliating part of prison life was the 
fact of being guarded by negro soldiers. Of course, 
Southern gentlemen did not take kindly to this, but 
on the whole these negroes behaved themselves fairly 
well. I suppose many of them had not yet lost that 
feeling of subserviency to their Southern masters 

"Way down South in Dixie." 

These negroes were soon replaced by white sol- 
diers, which made it much more agreeable to the 
prisoners. 

One morning I was standing near the sentry line 
wistfully looking towards the large gate which led 
to freedom and home. The sentinel passed me sev- 
eral times as he walked to and fro on his beat. I 



126 Edisto Rifles. 

spoke no word to him, but I suppose there must have 
been something in my pensive mood which appealed 
to his better nature, and as he passed me on one of 
his tramps he took from his haversack a nicely pre- 
pared lunch and handed it to me. He spoke not a 
word, but passed on. I did not speak either, but 
tried to look my thanks. There were dozens of oth- 
ers standing there. Why he should have selected 
me as the prize winner I can't tell. 

Some time before I was paroled, this Yankee ser- 
geant, to whom I have previously alluded, Duchene 
was his name, asked me if I did not have a coat in 
the express office which the prison authorities re- 
fused to give me because it was black. I told him 
that he was correct. He then proposed to buy me 
a gray coat in exchange for it, if I was disposed to 
do so. I agreed to his proposition, and a few days 
later he brought to me a new gray sack coat of nice 
material and nicely made. I then gave him an order 
on the express agent for mine, so at last my suit was 
complete. 

About the middle of June, 1865, my brother, 
Laurie, and I were paroled, the war being over. 
The prisoners were paroled alphabetically. Laurie 
was down near the gate when the names were being 
called, about the time the letter H was reached. It 
so happened that no one was present whose name 
commenced with that letter, and the paroling officer, 
becoming a little impatient, asked if there was any- 
one present whose name commenced with I. Laurie 
promptly answered, and after reporting to the 
officer, asked permission to come for me. He hurried 



Edisto Rifles. 127 

to the tent, where he arrived in great excitement. 
Telling me the glorious news, we soon gathered to- 
gether all of our belongings, and after hasty good- 
byes to our comrades, we lost no time in reporting at 
the gate, and were passed out with the others. We 
were the two last to make up the boat load. Taking 
a boat at Point Lookout we landed at City Point on 
the James River, in Virginia, where General Grant 
had his base of operations during the siege of Pe- 
tersburg. From City Point we commenced our over- 
land trip to South Carolina. Laurie sold a rubber 
ring which was made in prison to a Yankee soldier 
for 50 cents, and, therefore, he was the moneyed 
man. I did not have a single copper. There were 
five of us in the party. I do not remember two of 
them. Nick Rickenbaker, of Captain Sellers' com- 
pany, was one of the number. My possessions, not 
including my new suit, were an army blanket and a 
dinner plate. The latter I brought with me as a 
souvenir. On the other hand, I was young, athletic, 
in perfect health and full of life. 

"Backward, turn backward, O, Time, in your 
flight!" 

Transportation was exceedingly uncertain. Most 
of the railroads from Petersburg South had been 
destroyed by Sherman and his bummers. We left Pe- 
tersburg on a freight train, and went via Danville, 
and after several days we reached Blackstock, and 
found that place the terminus of the road, and from 



128 Edisto Rifles. 

there had to tramp the remaining portion of the 
way to Orangeburg. We did not tarry long at 
Blackstock before taking up our homeward march. 
We arrived at Winnsboro and rested a short while 
on the courthouse steps. I here parted with my 
prison souvenir, giving it to a negro woman for 
bringing me a basin of water, a towel and a cake 
of soap. I kept the soap. Between Winnsboro 
and Columbia we stopped to rest in front of a 
rather nice looking residence, incidentally about the 
hour for dinner, and waited to see if something 
would not turn up. Eventually the dinner bell rang 
out merrily and long, and we all, with one accord, 
bowed down our heads and solemnly said grace, 
Lord make us thankful for what we are about to 
receive, and I am sure we would have been thankful 
for most anything in our hungry condition, but we 
dined on grace alone. Nothing more substantial ma- 
terialized. The poet of the party* wrote these lines 
on a scrap of paper, pinned them to an old mouldy 
hardtack, and hung them on the front gate, prefaced 
in this manner : 

"To the gentleman who so bountifnlly and ge^-.er- 
ously fed five Confederate soldiers today I dedicate 
these lines. 



"Were I a preacher, I would leave you a tract, 
But being a soldier I leave you a tack." 



•Brother Laurie. 




EIBER F. W. DOSCHER 
Edisto Rifles 



Died at home, 1861 



Edisto Kifles. 129 

On reaching Columbia, the beautiful capital of 
South Carolina, we found that it had been thor- 
oughly and systematically burned by Sherman's 
army. Whether or not this was done by Sherman's 
special order I am not prepared to say, but the pre- 
sumption is that it was; but even admitting that it 
was not, he, like Paul, stood by consenting while his 
army was engaged in throwing fire balls into and 
applying torches to buildings. It mattered not 
whether these houses were occupied by helpless 
women and children, the sick and dying, or conse- 
crated to God, indiscriminate destruction followed. 
Sherman says, however, he was not responsible, but 
anyone who would stoop to the miserable subterfuge 
of trying to place the blame on the Confederate 
troops and General Wade Hampton, would be quite 
qualified morally to have issued such an order, and 
if he did not, like Nero, fiddle while the city was 
burning, way down in his heart he rejoiced just the 
same. The preponderance of evidence is decidedly 
against him regardless of what he may have said. 

The same program of vandalism had been car- 
ried out all through the State, along the route taken 
by Sherman's army. Silent and lonesome looking 
chimneys marked the spots where hundreds of 
stately mansions formerly stood, and desolation 
greeted you at every turn of the road. From every 
tongue was heard the disgusting story of insult and 
brutality by these hoodlum incendiaries. The night 
before reaching Orangeburg we slept by the road- 
side, not far from Caw Caw Swamp. The next 
morning I took a thorough bath in that stream, 

9— E. R. 



130 Edisto Kifles. 

threw aside my uniform, donned my new suit, and 
arrived at Orangeburg about 8 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of June 22d, 1865. 

My brother Laurie and I breakfasted with the 
family of Captain Donald Rowe, and remained in 
town for several hours. Orangeburg, like Colum- 
bia, had suffered greatly from the torch of Sher- 
man's army. 

In walking the streets I felt a little pride in the 
consciousness of being the best dressed man in the 
town. 

We reached home that afternoon, and found the 
dwelling still standing and family well, but every 
horse, mule, wagon, buggy, carriage and all pro- 
visions had been taken by Sherman's bummers. La- 
bor disorganized and negroes free, added still more 
to the ugly proposition which the South had to face 
and solve. My other three brothers, Captain Izlar, 
Ben P. Izlar and A. M. Izlar, had reached home 
several days previous to our arrival. The war was 
over, but a different kind of battle was now con- 
fronting the whole South. 

The Hon. Charles Francis Adams, of Massachu- 
setts, in a speech delivered on the centennial birth- 
day of General Lee at Lexington, Virginia, said: 
"The influence of Uncle Tom's Cabin in Europe, 
preventing the recognition of the Confederate 
States, was the prime cause of the defeat of the 
Southern Confederacy." 

President Davis attributed the adverse result to 
the lack of a navy by the Confederate Government. 

While both of these great men's hypotheses were 



Edisto Rifles. 131 

potent factors in shaping the destiny and fall of the 
Confederacy, and with either recognition or a navy 
the South would have been successful, yet without 
either if General Lee could have been reinforced 
by 25,000 troops when at Petersburg the Southern 
Confederacy would have been in existence today. 

General Grant, commanding the Union forces in- 
vesting Petersburg and Richmond, appears to have 
been of my opinion also. About this time he was 
so fearful of the result that on August 18th, 1864, 
he sent the following dispatch to General Butler: 

"On the subject of exchange, however, I differ 
from General Hitchcock. It is hard on our men 
held in Southern prisons not to exchange them, but 
it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our 
battles. Every man released on parole or otherwise 
becomes an active soldier against us at once, either 
directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of 
exchange, which liberates all prisoners taken, we 
will have to fight on till the whole South is extermi- 
nated. If we hold those caught they amount to no 
more than dead men. At this particular time to re- 
lease all rebel prisoners North would insure Sher- 
man's defeat and would compromise our safety 
here." 

This is a plain admission from the highest author- 
ity, that even as late as August 18th, 1864, the thin 
gray line of Confederate soldiers who defended Pe- 
tersburg and Richmond was a great menace to Gen- 
eral Grant and his grand army, and jeopardized the 



132 Edisto Rifles. 

final success of the United States Government. Al- 
though unintended this was one of the highest com- 
pliments ever paid to General Lee and the Confed- 
erate soldiers. 

As soon as I could pull myself together after 
reaching home, I went to work and tried hard to 
accommodate and adjust myself to the new condi- 
tion of things, but it seemed as though I could not 
shake myself loose from contact with the Yankees. 
On several occasions we came in collision, which 
caused me to be arrested, placed in confinement, and 
it was their intention to have me tried by a military 
commission which meant conviction, and most any 
dire sentence the vindictive court should see fit to 
impose. But, thanks to the ability of my lawyers, 
Izlar and Dibble, and my many influential friends, 
I was taken from the military, under Lieutenant 
Stephen O'Connor, when at the railroad station 
waiting for a train to take me to Columbia, and 
turned over to the civil authorities, and in this way 
escaped an exceedingly precarious position, and 
balked the vengeance of the inquisitors. 

APPENDIX. 

After the war closed, Captain James F. Izlar and 
Lieutenant Samuel Dibble formed a copartnership 
for the practice of law in Orangeburg. This firm 
was considered one of the foremost and most able in 
the State of South Carolina. 

Lieutenant Joseph Graves moved to Texas after 
graduating in medicine, and died there. 



Edisto Rifles. 133 

The Edisto Rifles furnished the following officers 
to the Confederate army: 

Colonel Thomas J. Glover, First South Carolina 
Volunteers. Killed at second Manassas, Virginia. 

Major John V. Glover, Twenty-fifth South Car- 
olina Volunteers. Died of wounds received at Cold 
Harbor, Virginia. 

Captain James F. Izlar, Twenty-fifth South Car- 
olina Volunteers. Survived the war. Elected Judge 
of the 1st Circuit, 1889, and served to 1893. Elected 
to Congress in 1894, to fill an unexpired term. 

Captain Thomas K. Legare, Second Artillery. 
Died in Columbia after the war. 

Captain Medicus Rickenbaker, Second Artillery. 
Died in Walterboro after war. 

Captain E. J. Felder, A. Q. M., Second Artillery. 
Died in Orangeburg after war. 

Captain M. J. D. Dantzler, Medical Corps. 

Captain T. Shelton Fox, Medical Corps. 

Lieutenant eTohn H. Felder, First South Carolina 
Volunteers. Died of typhoid fever at his home 
below Orangeburg, contracted in the Manassas cam- 
paign. 

Lieutenant Samuel Dibble, Twenty-fifth South 
Carolina Volunteers. Served several terms in Con- 
gress after the war. 

Lieutenant Samuel N. Kennerly, Twenty-fifth 
South Carolina Volunteers. Killed in battle of Wel- 
don Railroad, Va. 

Lieutenant George H. Elliott, Twenty-fifth South 
Carolina Volunteers. Killed in battle of Drewry's 
Bluff, Va. 



134 Edisto Rifles. 

Lieutenant Joseph Graves, Twenty-fifth South 
Carolina Volunteers. Died in Texas after the war. 

Lieutenant B. M. Shuler, Second Artillery, South 
Carolina Volunteers. Died after the war. 

Lieutenant W. W. Legare, Second Artillery, 
South Carolina Volunteers. Died after the war. 

Lieutenant A. A. Connor, Second Artillery, South 
Carolina Volunteers. Still living. 

Lieutenant W. E. Williams, Second Artillery, 
South Carolina Volunteers. Died after the war. 

Lieutenant Mortimer Glover, adjutant. First 
South Carolina Volunteers. 

Lieutenant T. C. Andrews, Second Artillery, 
South Carolina Volunteers. Died after the war. 

Lieutenant Z. M. Wolfe, Second Artillery, South 
Carolina Volunteers. Died after the war. 

Following members of Edisto Rifles died in prison 
at Elmira, New York : 
Private Henry L. Bailey. 
Private Charles Bailey. 
Private Wm. E. Crawford. 
Private David W. Dantzler. 
Private Joseph A. Holstein. 
Private Samuel P. Hook. 
Private Elmore Ott. 
Private J. LaAvton Scott. 
Private Jesse Sanford. 
Died on Avay home after being paroled: 
Private David F. Murphy. 
Private J. D. Ott. 
Died at Point Lookout prison, Maryland : 



Edisto Rifles. 135 

Private David Brown. 

Died at home during war: 

Private W. P. Larr. 

Private Eiber Doscher. 

Private Samuel J. Felder. 

Private A. Govan Rowe. 

Recognizing the imperative necessity of having a 
military company in Orangeburg in the strenuous 
days of reconstruction, a meeting was called, and the 
Edisto Rifles was reorganized, and the following of- 
ficers were elected: Samuel Dibble, Captain; Wm. 
V. Izlar, First Lieutenant, and J. George. Vose, 
Second Lieutenant. This was in the year 18 — . 

I at once went to work to raise a sufficient amount 
of money to arm and equip the company, which I 
easily did by soliciting contributions from the lead- 
ing citizens of the county, and in a short while the 
Edisto Rifles were fully armed, uniformed and 
equipped. 

The uniform adopted being gray, with black trim- 
mings, the same as that used at the commencement 
of the war. 

From various causes there were many changes in 
the officers as the years passed by, and when the 
Spanish-American war came on the Edisto Rifles 
volunteered as a company, and went to Cuba under 
command of Captain D. O. Herbert. The company 
was attached to the Second Regiment of South Car- 
olina Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Wilie 
Jones. 

Captain Herbert was voted a very handsome sword 
as being the most popular officer in the regiment. 



COMPANY ROLLS 



COMPANY A, FIRST REGIMENT. 

(Edisto Rifles.) 
From Orangeburg, S. C 

Glover, Thomas Jamison Captaiii 

Glover, John Vinyard Captain 

Felder, John H First Lieutenant 

Izlar, James Ferdinand First Lieutenant 

Kennerly, Samuel N Second Lieutenant 

Dibble, Samuel Second Lieutenant 

Felder, Edmund J Sergeant 

Williams, James A Sergeant 

Elliott, George H Sergeant 

Legare, Thomas K Sergeant 

Ray, W Sergeant 

Frederick, J. P Sergeant 

Fox, T. S Sergeant 

Zimmerman, Daniel Sergeant 

Izlar, Benj. P Sergeant 

Hook, J. H Sergeant 

Rast, J. E Sergeant 

Izlar, William V Sergeant 

Culler, L. Hayne Sergeant 

Andrews, Thaddeus C Corporal 

Rowe, Donald Jacob Corporal 

Shuler, B. M Corporal 



Edisto Kifles. 



137 



Wiles, Robert H Corporal 

Wannamaker, Francis Marion Corporal 

Pauling, W Corporal 

Kohn, Theodore Corporal 

Robinson, Jiide Corporal 

Kennedy, J. R Corporal 



PRIVATES. 



Andrews, E. W. 
Austin, M. L. 
Arant, J. H. 
Antley, M. F. 
Ashe, John. 
Ayers, D. W. 
Ballentine, Samuel. 
Baxter, J. D. 
Baxter, E. J. 
Black, M. G. 
Boyd, M. T. 
Brickie, Y. V. 
Brooker, A. F. 
Brooker, James 
Brunson, William 
Buyck, F. J. 
Bozard, J. S. 
Bozard, J. F. 
Bozard, Jacob C. 
Bull, W. A. 
Crawford, W. E. 
Crider, G. B. 
Crider, J. H. 



Cannon, James 
Carson, B. A. 
Champy, A. 
Champy, T. 
Church, W. A. 
Collins, A. 
Connor, A. A. 
Connor, F. 
Culclasure, D. J. 
Curtis, G. H. 
Culler, J. W. 
Dantzler, D. W. 
Dantzler, M. J. D. 
Denaux, E. C. 
Dolen, M. 

Doscher, Fiber F. W. 
Doyle, P. 
Ehney, W. L. 
Ehney, T. T. 
Ezekiel, E. 
Fanning, John A. 
Felder, Samuel J. 
Gardener, D. 



138 



Edisto Rifles. 



Glover, W. P. 
Glover, C. L. 
Gramling, Martin 
Glover, Mortimer. 
Hall, S. P. 
Hook, J. 
Hook, S. P. 
Hitchcock, L. W. 
Houser, E. M. 
Houser, F. D. 
Houser, J. D. 
Houser, G. M. 
Inabinet, Frank S, 
Inabinet, A. J. 
Inabinet, C. G. 
Inabinet, J. M. 
Irick, L. A. 
Izlar, L. T. 
Izlar, A. M. 
Izlar, B. W. 
Jenkins, L. W. 
Jaudon, P. B. 
Jaudon, S. W. A. 
Kelly, Thomas. 
Kemmerlin, T. A. 
King, W. 
Legare, W. W, 
Larr, W. P. 
Lucas, A. 
Meredith, W. C, 
Murphy, E. 
Myers, Evan. 



Miller, A. V. 

Moody, W. A. 
Luther.Murph, J. C. 

Murrow, O. H. 

Meredith, W. C. 

Norris, T. P. 

Ott, W. F. 

Ott, J. V. 

Pape, F. W. 

Pike, John C. 

Poole, T. C. 

Pooser, E. E. 

Pooser, J. P. 

Pooser, W. H., Jr. 

Pooser, W. H., Sr. 

Pooser, J. H. 

Prickett, J. H. 

Prusner, William. 

Pooser, William. 

Rawlinson, M. A. 

Rawlinson, A. S. 

Robinson, Murray. 

Ray, John D. 

Reynolds, F. S. H. 

Reed, J. V. 

Reed, J. N. 

Riley, D. A. 

Riley, John W. 

Rickenbaker, M. 
Jr. Rowe, William Sabb. 

Rowe, A. G. 

Rush, H. M. 



Edisto Rifles. 



13i^ 



Ruple, Andrew J. 
Sanders, B. H. 
Shoemaker, Ira T. 
Shultnight, Lewis. 
Sanders, J. D. D. 
Shuler, J. M. 
Shuler, J. W. 
Smoak, B. Z. 
Smoak, H. O. 
Staley, E. S. 
Stroman, D. P. 
Stroman, Michael G. 
Stroman, P. B. 
Summers, Jacob W. 
Summers, William. 
Stroman, J. P. 



Tatum, John S. C 
Tucker, J. R. 
Taylor, W. W. 
Tyler, H. Alonzo. 
Valentine, W. W. 
Van Tassel, James A. 
Williams, W. E. 
Williams, S. W. 
Wolfe, Z. Marion. 
Wolfe, E. M. 
Wolfe, J. J. 
Wright, R. 
Wolfe, Andrew J. 
Zeigler, H. H. 
Zeigler, M. C 
Zeigler, John A. 



COMPANY * G," 25tli REGIMENT 

(Edisto Rifles.) 
From Orangeburg, S. C 

Glover, John V Captain 

Izlar, James Ferdinand Captain 

Kennerly, Samuel N First Lieutenant 

Dibble, Samuel First Lieutenant 

Elliott, George H Second Lieutenant 

Graves, Joseph Second Lieutenant 

Izlar, Benjamin Pou Orderly Sergeant 

Hook, J. Hillard Sergeant 

Rast, Jacob E Sergeant 



140 



Edisto Rifles. 



Izlar, William Valmore Sergeant 

Culler, L. Hayne Sergeant 

Shoemaker, Ira T Sergeant 

Pauling, William R Corporal 

Kohn, Theodore Corporal 

Robinson, Jude Corporal 

Kennerly, J. Robert Corporal 



PRIVATES. 



Adger, A. M. 
Austin, Morgan L. 
Arant, James H. 
Antley, M. Furman. 
A.she, John. 
Ayers, D. A. 
Bailey, Henry. 
Bailey, Charles. 
Benton, J. W. 
Bozard, Jacob C. 
Bozard, David T. 
Bozard, Stephen E. 
Bradham, Lawrence F. 
Bronson, Marion D. 
Brown, Henry. 
Brown, David. 
Bruce, James P. 
Bull, W. Aiken. 
Crawford, Wm. E. 
Crider, George B. 
Culclasure, D. J. 
Culler, J. W. 



Culler, Jacob. 
Dantzler, J. M. 
Dantzler, David W. 
Dantzler, Manly J. D. 
Darnold, Evan. 
Darnold, S. C. 
Dibble, Frederick S. 
Fairey, Geo. W. B. 
Frieze, Frank J. 
Froberg, H. 
Hall, Sylvanus P. 
Hall, Samuel R. 
Holman, James M. O. 
Hook, Samuel P. 
Hook, John. 
Hook, Lawrence L. 
Inabinet, Jeff. 
Inabinet, Frank S. 
Inabinet, Charles G. 
Inabinet, E. E. 
Izlar, Lauriston T. 
Izlar, Adolphus Madison. 



Edisto Kifles. 



141 



Irick, Laban A. 
Irick, Alex D. 
Irick, Elliot H. 
Jenkins, Lewis W. 
Kohn, Theodore. 
Meredith, Wm. C 
Moody, W. A. 
Murphy, Emanuel. 
Murphy, David F. 
Myers, Evan. 
Myers, Luther, 
Myers, Fred. 
O'Cain, Jno. M. 
Ott, Elmore. 
Ott, Elias. 
Ott, J. David. 
Rast. Fred M. 



Rast, Lewis. 
Rawlinson, M. A. 
Rawlinson, Abram S. 
Rawlinson, William J. 
Rives, Wm. C. 
Robinson, Murray. 
Rush, Lewis F. 
Scott, Junius L. 
Sanders, Ben H. 
Stokes, Jefferson. 
Syphret, Obadiah J. 
Sanford, Jesse. 
Tatum, Jno. S. C. 
Taylor, Wm. W. 
Wolfe, Edward M. 
Wolfe, Peter. 



Many of the young members of the Edisto Rifles 
took with them to the army their negro servants, 
who not only waited on their young masters faith- 
fully, but cooked their meals also. When in Vir- 
ginia these servants stayed in the rear, with the 
wagon train, but would bring meals to the front 
every day. 

I can only remember the names of those I mention 
below : 

Donald J. Rowe's servant Caesar. 

Medicus Rickenbaker, servant Anthony. 

William V. Izlar and brother, servant Sam. 

Jude Robinson and brother, servant Cud jo. 

Samuel J. Felder, servant Pierce. 



142 Edisto Rifles. 

George Elliott, servant Peter. 

J. H. Hook and brother, servant Cephas. 

Frank S. Inabinet and brother, servant Derril. 

J. E. Kennerly, servant Wash. 

J. A. Holstein, servant Toney. 

Samuel Hall, servant Isaac. 

Jefferson Stokes, servant Jim. 

These servants were regularly rationed by the 
government the same as enlisted men. M}^ boy Sam 
came to the front with rations as usual one day 
when it was comparatively quiet, but about the time 
he reached the lines the enemy commenced a vig- 
orous shelling. This was more than Sam could 
stand, and he made a hasty flight to the rear. He 
ran so fast that you could see the bottoms of both 
his feet in the air at once. 

On a trip to Richmond, Virginia, several months 
ago I took occasion to visit most of the battlefields 
in that vicinity and also those near Petersburg. See- 
ing many handsome monuments erected on those 
fields by the Union army survivors to perpetuate 
the deeds of their comrades, I came home deter- 
mined that Hagood's Brigade should have a monu- 
ment placed on the field of the battle of Weldon 
Railroad, where on Sunday, the 21st day of August, 
1864, it made the brilliant, though disastrous, charge 
on Warren's Federal Army Corps. 

It is a source of gratification and pleasure to me 
to know that my efforts to raise a sufficient sum for 
that purpose were rewarded with success. Many 
citizens of South Carolina contributed to this noble 




O o 






/5 +:- 



Edisto Kifles. 143 

and patriotic work, among the contributors being 
many of our incomparable women. 

After having the monument finished I went to 
Petersburg, and with the aid of citizens of that city 
who were familiar with the country, and my per- 
sonal recollection of the surroundings, located the 
place and now have erected thereon a very durable 
monument of granite which bears this inscription on 
the front : 



Here 
A Brigade 

Composed of the 

Seventh Battalion, 

The Eleventh, Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth and 

Twenty-seventh Regiments, 

South Carolina Volunteers, 

Commanded by 

Brigadier General 

Johnson Hagood, 

Charged Warren's 

Federal Army Corps 

On the 21st day of August, 

1864, 

Taking into the fight 

740 men. 

Retiring with 273. 

"No prouder fate than theirs, who gave their lives to 

liberty." 



144 Edisto Rifles. 

On the front wash is 

HAGOOD'S BRIGADE 

in four-inch raised letters with polished tops. 
On left wash, 

C. S. A. 

(Same style and size letters.) 
On right wash, 

A. N. y. 

(Same style and same letters.) 
On rear wash, 

Placed here by Wm. V. Izlar, 

A survivor of the charge, aided 

by other South Carolinians. 

On the rear face of the die is a very handsome 
bronze seal of the State of South Carolina sixteen 
inches in diameter. 

The plat on which the monument stands is fifteen 
feet square, and covered with a durable cement 
pavement, and surrounded by a galvanized iron rail- 
ing, let into eight granite posts eight inches square. 

The farm on which the monument is placed is now 
owned by Mrs. Sheffield, who came from the State 
of Indiana after the war and settled there. Though 
a Northern woman, she unhesitatingly donated the 




MONUMENT TO HAGOOD'S BRIGADE 
Near Petersburg, erected tbrough Wm. V. Izlar, of Edisto Rifles 



Edisto Rifles. 145 

site and right of way from the Halifax road to 
the monument. The monument stands about one 
hundred feet from the Halifax road, and a short 
distance below Fort Wadsworth. This road was the 
bed of the Weldon Railroad, which ran there in the 
year 1864 when the battle was fought. Since then 
the railroad has been straightened and now runs two 
or three hundred yards west of the former location, 
and the old railroad bed has become the public high- 
way, known as the Halifax road. The appearance 
of the surroundings has changed, of course, very ma- 
terially within the interim from 1864 to 1908, yet 
the general topography is the same. The Yellow 
Tavern and the Dunlop house have long since be- 
come things of the past, and very few residents in 
that vicinity know that they ever existed. A few 
bricks and an old well are all that remain to mark 
the spots where, it is supposed, once stood these 
buildings, rendered notable and historic by the Civil 
War. 

Copy of Deed from Lutie Sheffield 

to 

William V. Izlar. 

This deed made this 3d day of June, A. D., 1909, 
between Lutie Sheffield, of the County of Dinwiddle, 
Virginia, of the first part, and William V. Izlar, of 
the City of Orangeburg, South Carolina, of the sec- 
ond part. 

Witnesseth : That whereas said William V. Izlar 
desires to erect in the vicinity of Fort Wadsworth, 

10— E. R. 



146 Edisto Rifles. 

on the ground whereon the 21st day of August, 1864, 
Hagood's Brigade of South Carolinians made its 
brilliant charge in its effort to capture the Federal 
earthworks at and near said fort, a monument to 
commemorate said charge, and desires a small lot of 
land upon which to erect said monument, with a 
right of way thereto from Halifax road as said road 
now runs ; 

Now, therefore, for and in consideration of the 
premises and of the sum of one dollar paid by said 
party of the second part to said party of the first 
part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, 
she, said Lutie Sheffield, doth grant with special 
warranty unto him, said William V. Izlar, the fol- 
lowing property, to wit : 

A certain lot or parcel of land situate in Namozine 
Magisterial District of the County of Dinwiddie, 
Virginia, about two and a half (21/2) miles from 
the City of Petersburg, on the southeast corner of 
the tract of land in said county conveyed to said 
Lutie Sheffield by Clarissa S. Hovey by deed dated 
January 26th, 1907, and of record in the Clerk's of- 
fice of the Circuit Court of said county at page 141, 
of volume 28, of the deed books of said office, 
bounded and described as follows: On the east 
by a line beginning at a point about five (5) feet 
two (2) inches from and north of the southern 
boundary line of said tract of land and about sixty- 
eight (68) feet six (6) inches from and west of the 
center line of Halifax road (as this road now runs 
on the old roadway of the Atlantic Coast Line Eail- 
road) and running parallel to said center line and 



Edisto Eifles. 147 

northwardly a distance of fifteen (15) feet; on t^' 
north by a line commencing at the northern end of 
said eastern boundary line and running at a rio-^ 
angle thereto westwardly a distance of fifteen 
(15) feet; on the west by a line commencing at the 
western end of said northern boundary line and run- 
ning parallel to said center line of said Halifax road 
a distance of fifteen (15) feeet southwardly; and on 
the south by a line commencing at the southern end 
of said western boundary line and running east- 
wardly a distance of fifteen (15) feet to the point of 
beginning; together with a convenient right of way 
from said Halifax road to said lot of land and from 
the same for the grantee under this deed, his as- 
signs, and all other persons desiring to visit said 
monument for any lawful purpose ; said lot of land 
hereby conveyed being a square in shape, each side 
of which is fifteen (15) feet in length, and being a 
part of said tract of land conveyed to said Lutie 
Shetfield by said Clarissa S. Hovey by the deed 
aforesaid. 

It is understood that said Clarissa S. Hovey, who 
has an estate in the land hereby conveyed, for her 
life, consents to the use thereof, for the purpose 
aforesaid, and will, if it be so desired, execute a 
proper deed to said Izlar or his assigns, conveying 
her interest therein. 

In testimony whereof, witness the following sig- 
nature and seal. 

LUTIE SHEFFIELD (Seal). 



148 Edisto Kifles. 

The above deed has been executed with my knowl- 
edge and consent, this 3rd day of June, A. D. 1909. 
Witness my hand and seal. 

MRS. CLARISSA S. HOVEY (Seal). 

State of Virginia, 
County of Dinwiddle. 

I, J. M. Townsend, a notary public in and for the 
City of Petersburg, in the State of Virginia, do cer- 
tify that Lutie Sheffield and Clarissa S. Hovey, 
whose names are signed to the foregoing writings, 
bearing date on the 3rd day of June, A. D. 1909, have 
acknowledged the same before me in my county 
aforesaid. My commission expires on the 5th day of 
October, 1910. 

Given under my hand this 3rd day of June, 1909. 

J. M. TOWNSEND, 

Notary Public. 

Virginia: In the Clerk's Office of Dinwiddle Cir- 
cuit Court, June 7th, 1909. 

This deed of B. & S., from Lutie Sheffield to Wil- 
liam V. Izlar, was this day lodged in the said office 
and with the certificate annexed admitted to record. 

Test : A. M. ORGAIN, Clerk. 



Edisto Rifles. 149 

Copy of Deed of Conveyance 

From 

William V. Izlar 

To 

Claude E. Swanson, 

Governor of Virginia, 

and 

His Successors in Office. 

This deed made this 3rd day of June, A. D. 1909, 
between Wm. V. Izlar, of the City of Orangeburg, 
South Carolina, of the first part, and Claude A. 
Swanson, Governor of the State of Virginia, and his 
successors in office, of the second part, 

Witnesseth, that, whereas said Wm. V. Izlar, by 
deed of even date herewith to be recorded at the same 
time herewith executed to him by Lutie Sheffield, 
of the County of Dinwiddle, Virginia, has acquired 
title to a certain lot of land fifteen (15) feet square, 
situate in Namozine magisterial district of said 
county, about two and one-half (21/2) miles south of 
Petersburg, near the Halifax Road, and fully 
described in said deed, for the purpose of erecting 
thereon a monument near the Federal fort known as 
Fort Wadsworth, on the ground where on the 21st 
day of August, 1864, Hagood's Brigade of South 
Carolinians made its brilliant charge in its effort to 
capture the Federal earthworks at and near said fort, 
to commemorate said charge ; and whereas said Izlar 
desires to commit to the care of the chief magistrate 
of the commonwealth of Virginia the small parcel of 



150 Edisto Rifles. 

land aforesaid and the monument to be erected 
thereon to be held in trust for the surviving members 
of said brigade and their descendants, 

Now, therefore, for and in consideration of the 
premises, he, said Wm. V. Izlar, doth grant with 
special warranty unto him, said Claude A. Swanson, 
Governor of Virginia, and his successors in office, 
the lot of land aforesaid, in trust to be held for the 
surviving members of said brigade and their descen- 
dants. 

In making this grant it is believed by the grantor 
that, by reason of fraternal ties binding the com- 
monwealth of Virginia and the commonwealth of 
South Carolina, the land and monument hereby con- 
veyed will be always held as a sacred trust. 

In testimony whereof witness the following signa- 
ture and seal. 

WM. V. IZLAR (Seal). 

State of Virginia, ) ^ ., 

City of Petersburg. J 

I, J. M. Townsend, a notary public, in and for the 
city aforesaid, in the State of Virginia, do hereby 
certify that Wm. V. Izlar, whose name is signed to 
the foregoing writing bearing date on the 3rd day of 
June, 1909, has acknowledged the same before me in 
my city aforesaid. 

My commission expires on the 5th day of October, 
1910. 

Given under my hand this 3rd day of June, A. D. 
1909. J. M. TOWNSEND, 

Notary Public. 



Edisto Rifles. 151 

Official Letter from 

Governor Claude E. Swanson 

of Virginia 

To 

Wm. V. Izlar 

On Receipt of Deed. 

Commonwealth of Virginia, 
Governor's Office, 
Richmond, July 12, 1909. 
Mr. William V. Izlar, Orangeburg, S. C. 

My Dear Sir: I am just in receipt of your letter, 
with enclosure of deeds, which I have noted. I have 
filed the deeds with the Secretary of the Common- 
wealth, in whose office they will be preserved with 
other official records of the Stat« of Virginia. 

Very truly yours, 

CLAUDE E. SWANSON, 

Governor. 



COMPANIES FROM ORANGEBURGH 
DISTRICT WITH NAMES 

Affendix. 

COMPANY F, TWENTY-FIFTH KEGIMENT. 

Sellers, M. Henry Captain 

Harper, Leonidas A Captain 

Evans, John G Second Lieutenant 

Shuler, Franklin E Third Lieutenant 

Wise, Wade W Lieutenant 

Carson, John J First Lieutenant 

Hart, Capers H Sergeant 

Gramling, Mike W Sergeant 

Fralic, W. J Sergeant 

Avinger, A. P Sergeant 

Dantzler, B. M Sergeant 

Dantzler, E. L Corporal 

Prickett, J. W Corporal 

Ulmer, Thomas W Corporal 

Way, D. A Corporal 

Harmon, J. W Corporal 

Privates. 

Avinger, D. J. Clayton, D. J. 

Avinger, Lewis H. Clayton, W. W. 

Barber, G. D. Clayton, F. R. 

Barsh, W. F. Dantzler, Arthur P. 

Braddy, D. Dantzler, Henry F. 

Braddy, E. W. Dantzler, J. N. 



Edisto Rifles. 



153 



Dantzler, W. H. 
Dantzler, Lewis W. 
Dantzler, George M. 
Dantzler, Fred W. 
Dantzler, Irvin P. 
Davis, O. S. 
Davis, Thomas 
Davis, Morgan A. 
Douglas, Brince 
Evans, R. M. 
Felder, Carson E. 
Felder, O. J. 
Fertic, Boyd 
Fertic, Charles 
Fertic, George. 
Fertic, John 
Fertic, Joseph 
Fersner, Wm. F. 
Fersner, Frank 
Fersner, Lawrence W. 
Fogle, W. J. 
Golson, J. D. 
Grambling, Martin 

Luther 
Griffin, A. B. 
Griffin, James 
Griffin, Henry- 
Griffin, John 
Griffin, Silas D. 
Grainger, Henry E. 
Haigler, F. M. 



Haigler, F. G. 

Heckle, A. J. 

Heaner, John C. 

Holmes, Sam 

Houck, Daniel D. S. 

Huffman, David J. 

Huffman, W. R. 

Huffman, John 

Jones, James 

Mclver, David A. 

Mclver, Bruner A. 

Murray, D. D. 

Myers, Fred 

Myers, J. W. 

Ott, Samuel 

Ott, J. Frank 

Parler, O. J. 

Parler, Leonidas 

Prickett, J. H. 

Rast, J. T. 

Rooke, E. C. 

Rucker, John 

Rucker, Henry 

Rickenbacker, Nicholas F. 

Shirar, Henry 

Shuler, Erastus V. 

Shuler, E. Pinckney 

Shuler, Geo. L. V. S. 

Shuler, D. G. B. 

Shuler, Merrick W. 

SnelL W. D. 



154 



Edisto Kifles. 



Smoak, A. A. 
Smoak, E. A. 
Staley, H. J. 
Stroman, Charles 
Stroman, Emanuel 
Spigener, Edward 
Stone, Adam 
Smith, J. W. 
Smith, R. 
Shultnight, Lewis. 
Strock, William 
Strock, E. B. 
Taylor, Middleton E. 
Taylor, Pinckney H. 
Thompson, D. V. 



Ulmer, F. F. 
Ulmer, G. L. 
Vogt, L. C. 
Walling, Jos. A. 
Walling, R. 
Walling, Jas. 
Wannamaker, Irvin W. 
Way, Wad. B. 
Wiles, Henry 
Wiles, William 
Wiles, G. A. 
Wiles. V. P. 
Zeigler, Fred 
Zimmerman, R. D. 
Zimmerman, W. C. 



COMPANY B, FIRST REGIMENT. 

Livingston, Daniel Captain 

Pou B. F First Lieutenant 

Jones, James D Second Lieutenant 

Knotts, Joseph E Second Lieutenant 

Ehney, W. L First Sergeant 

Geiger, F. J Sergeant 

Minnicken, J. A Sergeant 

Phillips, James H Sergeant 

O'Cain, J. A Sergeant 

Fanning, J. H Corporal 

Inabinet, James A Corporal 

Martin, H. O Corporal 

Geiger, R. Baker Corporal 



Edisto Rifles. 



155 



Privates. 



Axson, J. W. 
Brown, J. F. 
Brown, E. 
Brown, William 
Brown, L. S. 
Brown, S. W. 
Brown, J. P. 
Bailey, J. 
Bonnett, J. F. 
Courtney, P. 
Craft, J. S. 
Craft, T. W. 
Culclasure, A. D. 
Crim, D. G. 
Corbett, F. M. 
Crider, D. H. 
Cook, W. D. 
Davis, T. J. 
Dannerly, G. W. 
Douglas, M. P. 
Fanning, Jos. A. 
Flake, J. R. 
Flake, J. W. 
Flake, T. J. 
Flake, T. B. 
Furtick, J. H. 
Furtick, L. D. 
Hutto, R. S. 
Hutto, James 
Horsey, J. H. W. 



Hughes, W. F. 
Huffman, Jacob 
Huffman, J. H. S. 
Huffman, J. W. 
Hooker, David H. 
Hildebrand, D. L. 
Hooker, F. F. M. 
Inabinet, P. D. P. 
Inabinet, J. V. 
Johnson, P. P. 
Jeffcoat, H. E. 
Jeffcoat, S. W. 
Kaigler, F. G. 
Knotts, T. D. 
Lucas, J. R. 
Lucas, Rufus 
Lorick, P. C. 
Lorick, J. H. 
Martin, A. T. 
Martin, J. J. 
Mack, B. A. 
Mclver, J. J. 
Ott, James P. 
Peebles, Jos. E. 
Plimale, A. 
Quattlebaum, J. J. 
Rucker, G. 
Rucker, E. A. 
Rucker, U. S. L. 
Redmond, Job 



156 



Edisto Rifles, 



Robinson, Jos. F. 
Richter, J. J. 
Riley, J. W. 
Stevenson, Benjamin 
Stevenson, W. M. 
Stevenson, J. P. 
Smithheart, John 
Smith, J. W. 
Smith, W. D. 
Stricklin, H. S. 
Slagle, W. F. 
Sightler, T. M. 
Sightler, S. B. 



Sightler, W. S. 
Stabler, G. W. 
Schumpert, S. A. 
Ulmer, A. 
Vann, T. J. 
William, F. 
William, James 
William, M. F. 
Wise, A. J. 
Whetstone, J. A. 
Yon, W. P. 
Zeigler, D. W. 
Zeigler, D. A. 



COMPANY D, TWENTIETH REGIMENT. 

R. V. Dannerly Captain 

Livingston, Barnet First Lieutenant 

N. P. Jeffcoat Second Lieutenant 

J. T. Inabinet Third Lieutenant 

Sergeants. 

H. W. Jeffcoat First Sergeant 

J. A. Jeffcoat Second Sergeant 

Isaac Redmon Third Sergeant 

C. H. Livingston Fourth Sergeant 

R. A. Carson Fifth Sergeant 

Corporals. 

J. S. Livingston First Corporal 

T. W. Murph Second Corporal 



Edisto Rifles. 



157 



J. F. North Third Corporal 

W- P- Cain Fourth Corporal 



Privates. 



Axson, F. D. 
Axson, W. A. 
Bailey, G. W. 
Bolen, T. G. 
Brown, William 
Carson, D. N. 
Carson, T. J. 
Carson, J. G. 
Carson, W. H. 
Chavis, John 
Chavis, Pickens. 
Clark, W. E. 
Cook, Samuel 
Cook, J. O. 
Cook, Jacob 
Crider, S. W. 
Crider, J. H. 
Crider, T. J. 
Crider, T. L. 
Crim, Vandy 
Crim, Henry 
Fogle, P. D^ 
Fogle, Peter, Sr. 
Fogle, J. W. 
Furtick, G. A. 
Furtick, Grambling 
Furtick, Lawrence 



Furtick, Irvin 
Gantt, Cas. 
Harley, Jos. 
Harley, T. W. 
Harley, G. W. 
Harley, Josaway 
Hoover, J. C. 
Hooker, L. S. 
Hooker, J. L. G. 
Hooker, J. W. 
Hooker, C. W. 
Hooker, J. O. A. 
Hughes, M. L. 
Hughes, Ebidia 
Hughes, J. W. 
Hughes, Wash 
Hutto, Jasper 
Hutto, Jake 
Inabinet, J. D. 
Inman, George 
Ivins, Aron 
Jeffcoat, N. V. 
Jeffcoat, E. D. A. 
Jeffcoat, J. J. 
Jeffcoat, C. A. 
Joiner, Joseph 
Joiner, H. W. 



158 



Edisto Eifles. 



Johnson, J. M. 
Johnson, J. H. 
Jernigan, J. W. 
King, AV. N. 
Livingston, F. B. 
Livingston, Rufus 
Livingston, M. L. 
Livingston, Min. 
Livingston, W. B. 
Mack, J. B. 
Mack, S. H. 
Mack, W. C. 
Mack, G. A. 
Minnicken, J. A., Jr. 
McMichael, R. V. 
Neece, E. R. 
Neece, Jacob 
Ott, W. F. 
Pou, B. F. 
Porter, J. M. 
Phillips, J. T. 
Phillips, J. W. 
Peel, William 
Porter, J. A. 
Porter, Nathan 
Porter, Ervin 
Pound, J. W. 
Phillips, George 



Price, D. P. 
Pou, W. G. W. 
Pou, R. B. 
Porter, D. A. 
Robinson, Louis 
Rucker, W. A. 
Reed, J. V. 
Reed, R. M. 
Reed, J. N. 
Reed, W. H. 
Searight, A. E. 
Sharpe, John 
Stabler, G. V. 
Stabler, Mac 
Sharpe, Jacob 
Sharpe, D. P. 
Stabler, Henry 
Starns, Josh 
Tyler, W. L. 
Wise, J. J. 
Wise, J. W. 
Witt, W. P. 
Williamson, T. D. 
Williamson, W. W. 
Wise, D. H. 
Wactor, J. L. 
Wilson, L. J. 
Williamson, Daniel 



Edisto Rifles. 159 

COMPANY F, SECOND REGIMENT ARTIL- 
LERY. 

T. K. Legare Captain 

W. W. Legare First Lieutenant 

B. M. Shuler First Lieutenant 

A. A. Connor Second Lieutenant 

Sergeants. 

E. J. Smoak First Sergeant 

J. J. Wolfe Second Sergeant 

E. E. Bruce Third Sergeant 

M. N. Riley Fourth Sergeant 

W. I. D. Moorer Fifth Sergeant 

J. C. Pike Quartermaster Sergeant 

Corporals. 

A. V. Miller First Corporal 

R. L. Shuler Second Corporal 

J. W. McAlhaney Third Corporal 

J. P. Garrick Fourth Corporal 

A. P. Dantzler Mail Carrier 

J. D. Zeigler Band Manager 

O. D. J. Collier Commissary 

The Old Privates. 

Arant, D. D. Bair, Z. A. 

Arant, M. A. Bair, J. T. 

Ash, G. W. Bair, L. 

Ayers, D. A. Baxter, S. F. 



160 



Edisto Kifles. 



Baxter, J. D. 
Berry, A. F. 
Berry, J. W. 
Bruner, G. 
Bruce, T. W. 
Bruce, J. C. 
Bruce, F. A. 
Brickel, V. V. 
Brickel, M. 
Bozard, F. R. 
Bozard, M. O. 
Bozard, William 
Bolten, J. 
Bolten, M. 
Bolen, E. 

Byrd, G. 

Byrd, S. 

Byrd, D. W. 

Byrd, A. H. 

Carn, C. L. 

Church, W. A. 

Champy, A. R. 

Champy, William 

Connor, L. S. 

Connor, O. F. 

Connor, A. B. 

Connor, W. M. 

Dantzler, A. F. 

Davis, W. R. 

Davis, E. A. 

Dukes, I. J. 



Dukes, J. T. 
Dukes, Morgan 
Dukes, W. A. 
Edwards, J. A. 
Edwards, A. F. 
Fairey, J. W. 
Fairey, A. H. 
Fairey, A. T. 
Fairey, O. Frank 

Fairey, J. J. 

Fairey, D. A. C. 

Fairey, J. W. 

Fairey, S. P. 

Fairey, G. E. 

Fairey, G. A. C. 

Fairey, F. O. 

Fogle, Sam 

Fogle, Louis 

Gaffney, G. W. D. W. 

Griffith, L. A. 

Griffith, S. F. 

Grimes, J. S. 

Curtis, Geo. H. 

Grimes, W. L. 

Hartzog, J. A. 

Hartzog, A. J. 
Harmon, J. C. 
Harmon, A. J. 
Houck, I. W. 
Hitchcock, L. W. 
Hughes, M. 



Edisto Kifles. 



161 



Hughes, W. 
Hunkerpeller, D. R. 
Hunt, L. D. 
Hunt, W. 
Hutto, T. S. 
Hutto, William 
Hydrick, H. H. 
Haigler, S. J. 
Inabinet, John A. 
Jennings, A. J. 
Jennings, J. A. T. 
Jewitt, William 
Kennerly, J. M. 
Lynch, W. R. B. 
Metts, O. V. 
Metts, H. C. 
Metts, M. A. 
Metts, A. W. 
Meadows, J. W. 
Morel, A. 
Myers, B. D. 
Myers, W. Y. 
McPheeters, W. H. 
Nettles, Joe 
Norris, D. K. 
O'Dowd, H. D. 



Pearson, J. E. 
Pattrick, E. D. 
Pickering, M. E. 
Pooser, William 
Pooser, J. M. 
Rast, F. M. 
East, L. P. 
Reedish, William H. 
Riley, W. B. 
Riley, J. M. 
Riley, R. H. 
Riley, H. R. 
Rhoad, W. C. 
Shuler, J. 
Shuler, R. G. 
Shuler, H. T. 
Shuler, C. C. P. 
Smith, M. Q. 
Smoak, A. F. 
Smoak, J. A. 
Stroman, L. 
Syfret, C. W. 
Thompson, Govan 
Wolfe, H. L. 
Weeks, James M. 



COMPANY I, SECOND REGIMENT ARTIL- 
LERY, SOUTH CAROLINA YOLUNTEERS. 

J. B. Humbert Captain 

Wm. S. Barton First Lieutenant 



11— E. R. 



162 Edisto Rifles. 

Joab W. Moseley Second Lieutenant 

Geo. Boliver Third Lieutenant 

S. D. Russell Fourth Lieutenant 

Sergeants. 

D. A. Riley First Sergeant 

N. N. Hayden Second Sergeant 

D. D. Dantzler Third Sergeant 

J. N. Hook Fourth Sergeant 

Corporals. 
J. J. Bair First Corporal 

E. S. Staley Second Corporal 

J. R. D. Wolfe Third Corporal 

C. H. Hall Fourth Corporal 

Privates. 

Amaker, A. A. Cherry, H. T. 

Amaker, Jacob Cherry, J. S. 

Amaker, John Cooner, J. 

Amaker, J. B. Cooner, N. G. 

Argoe, H. E. Cooper, C. J. 

Ash, T. P. Corbitt, H. W. 

Austin, J. C. C. Corbitt, M. A. 

Baber, W. H. Crook, D. W. 

Bair, J. W. Dantzler, A. P. 

Bair, M. E. Davis, Irvin 

Bair, S. C. B. Davis, H. W. 

Berry, S. N. Ehney, W. L. 

Bull, W. A. Evans, J. C. 

Chavis, Wm. Fanning, J. W., Sr. 



Edisto Rifles. 



163 



Fanning, J. W., Jr. 

Felder, J. H. 

Felder, J. M. 

Fogle, G. H. 

Fogle, R. P. 

Fimderburg, H. J. 

Gleaton, W. 

Glover, D. F. 

Glover, W. P. 

Golson, J. P. 

Golson, J. W. 

Gregory, J. W. 

Hayden, S. C. 

Heathington, I. 

Horger, A. I. 

Humbert, D. 
Hutto, S. 
Inabnet, D. G. 
Inabnet, J. H. 
Inabnet, J. M. 
Jamison, H. W. 
Joiner, V. M. 
Jones, C. R. 
Jones, R. W. 
Kemmerlin, D. W. 
Livingston, J. F. 
Lightfoot, W. T. 
McKewn, G. R. 
McMichael, G. S. 
Mitchel, M. 
Moorer, J. W. E. 



Mosely, G. C. 
Moss, J. M. 
Nash, W. E. 
Odom, J. H. 
Oliver, J. A. F. 
Ott, J. V. 
Parler, G. J. 
Phillips, J. P. 
Pooser, F. 
Pooser, H. W., Sr. 
Pooser, H. W., Jr. 
Proctor, J. 
Reeves, W. L. 
Rice, L. C. 
Riley, E. C. 
Riley, J. E. 
Robinson, A. J. 
Robinson, Dan W. 
Robinson, John H. 
Robinson, W. D. 
Rush, J. C. 
Sally, G. B. 
Sally, W. B. 
Simons, J. A. 
Sistrunk, F. O. 
Snell, A. M. 
Stack, W. D. 
Staley, C. A. 
Staley, J. F. 
Stevenson, J. C. 
Stevenson, L. J. 



164 



Edisto Eifles. 



Stroman, A. G. 
Stroman, C. N. 
Stroman, J. G. 
Stroman, J. J. 
Stroman, P. B. 
Sturkie, G. 
Sturkie, G. J. 
Thomas, J. B. 
Thompson, I. P. 
Tucker, J. M. 
Ulmer, S. S. 
Walsh, T. J. P. 



Whetstone, G. M. 
Whetstone, J. A. 
Whetstone, N. A. 
Whetstone, W. T. 
Whetstone, S. M. 
Wolfe, A. T. 
Wolfe, H. W. 
Wolfe, W. M. 
Yon, K. S. 
Zeigler, J. H. 
Zeigler, J. L. E. 
Zimmerman, A. L. 



Copy of letter from Lieutenant- Colonel J. G. 
Pressley, Twenty-fifth Eegiment, Hagood's Brigade, 
1884: 

Santa Eosa, Cal., 23rd April, 1884. 

Lieutenants M. O. Dantzler, N. H. Bull and W. J. 

DeTreville and others. Committee of Invitation, 

Edisto Eifles. 
Gentlemen : Your invitation to be present at your 
Annual Picnic to be held on the 1st of May, has just 
been received. I am unable to find language that 
would adequately express a tithe of the pleasure that 
it would give me to attend your gathering and once 
more take by the hand the survivors of the gallant 
company, which I had the honor of leading in those 
dark days, when the right to self-government was 
the prize for which we risked our lives in behalf of 



Edisto Kifles. 165 

the glorious old State, which we believed had the 
right to command our willing services. To miss the 
familiar faces of many who laid down their lives for 
the cause, the righteousness of which we never 
doubted, would tinge my gladness with sorrow, but I 
have no doubt that I could discover in your faces the 
lineaments of the noble sires whom I so much loved, 
and who loved and trusted me, for I must not forget 
that the generation which with me withstood the 
thunders of Legare's, Secessionville, Wagener and 
Walthall Junction have nearly all pitched their 
tents "on fame's eternal camping ground." Let me 
admonish you, their sons, to prove yourselves 
"worthy of your sires." South Carolina is not now 
the sovereign State for which I and they fought. 
She is now a part of a nation and not a member of a 
confederation of sovereign States. Submit to the 
inevitable and be as true to her and to the nation of 
which she is a part, as were the Edisto Rifles to her, 
when her behests were to them the paramount law. 
The "Stars and Bars" were folded forever, twenty 
years ago. Be as patriotic and true to the "Stars and 
Stripes" as were the Edisto Rifles to that flag under 
whose folds so many of them poured out their blood, 
a glorious, but useless sacrifice. Should occasion 
offer, and duty call, do your best to make the "Stars 
and Stripes" respected and honored wherever the 
ocean rolls, or the sun shines. True men may remem- 
ber the glories, mingled as they are with us with the 
misfortunes of the past, but must faithfully and 
heroically discharge the duties of the present and 



166 Edisto Eifles. 

future. You will, if the spirit of the Edistos, of 
the old Twenty-fifth, live in the Edistos of today. 

The presence of your kind invitation brings crowd- 
ing upon my memory the sad as well as the glorious 
recollections of the past. I have been trusted, and 
honored, by my fellow citizens of my adopted State, 
but no manifestation of regard is to me more grate- 
ful than the remembrance of the confidence and love 
so often shown me by the Edisto and St. Matthews 
Eifles, two companies of heroes whom the people of 
Orangeburg District can never sufficiently honor. 

Please convey for me to your company, my thanks 
for their kindly remembrance, and my wishes for the 
prosperity and long life of every survivor and all the 
offspring of the Edistos of the Twenty-fifth South 
Carolina Volunteers." 

Very truly and sincerely yours, 

JNO. G. PEESSLEY. 



I am greatly indebted to Captain Geo. E. 
Bernard, of the law firm of Bernard & Townsend, of 
Petersburg, Virginia, for the many courtesies 
extended me, when in his city ; especially so, for the 
preparation of the deeds of conveyance of the site of 
the monument, which was done cheerfully and with- 
out reward. 

Also to Dr. Samuel E. Lewis of Washington, 
D. C., for valuable information in regard to plates 
for flags of the Confederate States; and to General 
C. Irvine Walker of Charleston for many courtesies. 



Edisto Rifles. 167 

and also to General Edward Bragg of Fondulac, 
Wisconsin, and Captain Ben Martin of Washington, 
D. C. 



A GOOD BAND'S WORK. 

Extract from "The Courier," 1863. 

Chester, February 18, 1863. 
Editors Courier: The Band of this Regiment, so 
long and favorably known as the Charleston Brass 
Band, gave a Concert in Wilmington in aid of the 
Sufferers at Fredericksburg. Their patriotic effort 
met with due appreciation, and the Concert was 
largely attended. 

Mr. Mueller, Band Master, has requested me to 
transmit the net amount thus realized, and I have the 
honor of enclosing to you the sum of three hundred 
and thirteen dollars and ten cents, as the contribution 
of the Eutaw Regiment Band to the Fredericksburg 
fund. 

CHARLES H. SIMONTON, 
Colonel Eutaw Regiment, 25th S. C. V. 

Headquarters Eutaw Regiment, 25th S. C. V., 
February 19, 1863. 



168 Edisto Kifles. 

SEVEN PINES 

WILLIAM V. IZLAR, ORANGEBURG, S. C. 

Beneath a long mound by trees hid away, 
O'erhung by low, drooping vines. 

Brave heroes in gray lie sleeping today 
On battlefield of Seven Pines. 

No stone marks the spot in the swaying pines ; 

No comrade now their names can tell ; 
But buried close up to the enemy's lines. 

All accoutered, just as they fell. 

No low, mournful dirge was chanted o'er. 
In silence they laid them to rest; 

But borne on the breeze was the battle's roar, 
The sun sinking low in the west. 

Now hushed is the drummer boy's rattle, 
The fife and the trumpet are still ; 

No sound save the lowing of cattle 
Or note of a lone whippoorwill. 

But when that last trumpet is sounded, 

The herald of earth's final day, 
They will rise with arms buckled around them. 

These matchless warriors in gray. 

[In sending the foregoing the author writes : "On 
a recent visit to the battle field of Seven Pines I was 
shown by the guide a long, low mound, under which 
he informed me quite a number of Confederate 
soldiers were buried. This circumstance and the 
scenes inspired the verses herein inclosed.] 



